Abstract:
In Aristotle’s Poetics,“Catharsis” connects with the moods of fear and compassion. The problem of moods is crucial to understanding Aristotle’s Poetics. Fear and compassion have double meanings in Aristotle’s Poetics: one meaning directs to concrete objects; the other has no concrete objects and opens a field. Corresponding to the double meanings of fear and compassion, catharsis has positive and negative meanings too. All of them constitute the whole meanings of catharsis. According to Aristotle, through a performance that has no direct relationship with the audience, tragedy could initiate the moods of compassion and fear, and make them sublimate, so that the audience can achieve the metaphysical realm. Researching the problem of moods is meaningful for us to understand and recapture the awe and kindness in Chinese ethics.
