10.4225/03/59211a3c6e448
Rhonda Khatab
Rhonda
Khatab
Ethical Consciousness in the Spirit of Tragedy: Hegel’s Antigone
Monash University
2017
Antigone
Sophocles
Hegel
ethics
philosophy
phenomenology
Latin and Classical Greek Literature
2017-05-21 04:40:22
Journal contribution
https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/journal_contribution/Ethical_Consciousness_in_the_Spirit_of_Tragedy_Hegel_s_Antigone/4981532
Within literary theory and philosophical discourse, Sophocles’ <i>Antigone</i> has been a significant source of questions pertaining to the relationship of individual and state. Indeed, the <i>Antigone </i>figures prominently in the context of Hegel’s account of “The Ethical Order,” which represents the conflict between the spheres of Divine and Human Law, with reference to the tragic as reflected within Greek ethical life. Following an interpretation of this section on “The Ethical Order,” this paper undertakes a more engaged reading of Hegel’s account of the <i>Antigone</i>, in critical juxtaposition with a re-reading of Sophocles’ <i>Antigone</i>. In challenging contrast to Hegel’s account of the tragedy, this interpretation of the play gives emphasis to the argument that the conflict presented in <i>Antigone</i> foreshadows that between individual subjective will and communal right that becomes the defining problem (both politically, and philosophically) of modernity.