Abstract
Why are we willing to put ourselves through the painful, sometimes harrowing experiences that certain works of art provide? This way of putting the problem perhaps lacks the punchy paradoxical-sounding formulation responsible for spilling so much philosophical ink -’How can we find pleasure in such painful experiences?’ — yet in avoiding the simplistic pleasure-in-pain dichotomy responsible for the so-called ‘paradox of tragedy’, it allows us to focus more intently on understanding the nature of the negative experiences that we are thus motivated to pursue.
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© 2014 Cain Todd
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Todd, C. (2014). Attention, Negative Valence, and Tragic Emotions. In: Levinson, J. (eds) Suffering Art Gladly. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137313713_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137313713_12
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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