Aristotle’s Poetics is the first philosophical account of an art form and is the foundational text in the history of aesthetics. The Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Aristotle and the Poetics is an accessible guide to this often dense and cryptic work. Angela Curran introduces and assesses:

• Aristotle’s life and the background to the Poetics
• the ideas and text of the Poetics, including mimēsis; poetic technē; the definition of tragedy; the elements of poetic composition; the Poetics’ recommendations for tragic plot patterns; catharsis; epic and comedy; the nature of our emotional response to drama; the proper pleasure of tragedy; and the role that art plays in a human life
• the relevance of Aristotle’s work in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and philosophical psychology to the Poetics
• a comparison of Plato and Aristotle on the value of mimetic art
• the continuing importance of Aristotle’s Poetics to contemporary philosophy, aesthetics, and philosophy of film.