An extravagance is something that your spirit thinks is a necessity.
Bernard WilliamsRead
Tragedy is formed 'round ideas it does not expound, and to understand its history is, in some part, to understand those ideas and their place in the society that produced it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Tragedy reflects deeper ideas about society and understanding them is crucial to grasping the tragedy's significance.
In this quote, Bernard Williams emphasizes that tragedy is not merely a narrative of sorrow or misfortune, but rather intricately linked to the ideas and beliefs of the society from which it arises. Understanding the historical context and the underlying concepts surrounding a tragic event allows for a deeper appreciation of its significance and implications within the larger social framework.
Themes
TragedyIdeasSocietyUnderstandingHistory
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a lecture on the significance of tragedy in literature.
More from Bernard Williams
All quotes →There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.
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Contemporary moral philosophy has found an original way of being boring, which is by not discussing moral issues at all.
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The majority of philosophers are totally humorless. That's part of their trouble.
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People have been predicting the death of philosophy since the 17th century. When I was a student, people were saying, 'We're in the last days of philosophy.' Then we were told in the '60s it would be replaced by sociology, then by literary criticism.
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Virtually the only subject in which one could ever get a scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge was classics. So I went to Oxford to study classics and, unlike Cambridge, it had a philosophy component, and I became completely transported by it.
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We're not a racist organization, because we understand that racism is an excuse used for capitalism, and we know that racism is just - it's a byproduct of capitalism.
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When some state or other offered Alexander a part of its territory and half of all its property he told them that 'he hadn't come to Asia with the intention of accepting whatever they cared to give him, but of letting them keep whatever he chose to leave them.' Philosophy, likewise, tells all other occupations: 'It's not my intention to accept whatever time is leftover from you; you shall have, instead, what I reject.' Give your whole mind to her.
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