Catharsis is a tragic cleansing

In Greek, the word "catharsis" means purification, liberation, exaltation. The concept of catharsis is very important for world culture, art and philosophy, but in different epochs thinkers of different directions understood catharsis differently, the meaning of the word changed. The main contribution to the development of this concept was made by philosophers of antiquity and the Enlightenment, and then it was adopted by psychologists.

Antiquity: how it all began

This very concept appeared, most likely, in the writings of Aristotle. According to ancient ideas, catharsis is a pleasure that a person receives from viewing a tragedy. Ancient Greek philosopher introduces this concept, describing the impact of tragedy on the viewer. Tragic pleasure is a pleasure, the sources of which are compassion and fear, that is, painful feelings. How can they give a person a pleasant experience?

The fact is that the viewer sympathizes with the hero of the tragedy, and compassion is a mechanism that shows or strengthens the connections between people, manifests their common nature. When a person experiences compassion, he feels his oneness with other people: everyone is capable of experiencing such feelings and states, and therefore, are able to understand each other.

The meaning of the word "catharsis" in the Age of Enlightenment

Many philosophers and aesthetics of the XVIII century were actively discussing what catharsis is. A lot of attention to this issue was given to the French poet and playwright Pierre Cornel. He saw the essence of the tragic purification in the following way. The tragedy shows the unfortunate, deeply suffering hero, and the audience sympathizes with him. At the same time, the viewer is afraid: all the troubles that overtake the hero of the tragedy and any other person in general, can happen to everyone, including the spectator himself. Fear leads him to the desire to avoid the same misfortune. To do this, you need to get rid of what caused the hero of the tragedy to crash and suffer - from uncontrollable colossal passions - anger, envy, ambition, hatred. Here catharsis is the deliverance from passions that lead to unhappiness, or their purification, restraint and submission to the requirements of reason.

Parallel to this understanding of catharsis, the other, hedonistic, developed. According to him, catharsis is a higher aesthetic experience, which is perceived directly for the sake of enjoyment.

Catharsis in Psychology

This unusual state was investigated not only by philosophy, but also by psychology. Sigmund Freud introduced his patients into a hypnotic state in which they re-experienced past personal stresses and pathogenic affects that resulted in mental trauma, but now - with subsequent adequate reaction. In science, catharsis is also one of the methods of psychotherapy, which aims at clearing the psyche of hidden deep conflicts and alleviating the sufferings of patients.

So, catharsis is a tragic cleansing under the influence of strong negative experiences - for example, fear or compassion. It leads to the elimination of affects or their harmonization.