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Research Article

No. 9 (2025): Dossier: "Mimesis in Philosophy and Literature"

Life Simplified: Aristotle on Mimesis and the Universality of Poetry

DOI
https://doi.org/10.64957/nesir.1798744
Submitted
21.08.2025
Published
23.10.2025

Abstract

In Chapter 9 of the Poetics, Aristotle says that poetry is more philosophical and valuable than history, because it is rather concerned with the universals, whereas history tells us the particulars. The aim of this article is to understand Aristotle’s claim about the universality and philosophical nature of poetry within the context of the Poetics, that is, within the framework of the discussion on how the story or plot should be constructed in a successful tragedy. The article first discusses the tensions inherent in the idea that poetry rather expresses the universals, and the suggestions offered in the secondary literature to resolve these tensions. Then, it is shown that Aristotle introduces two different concepts of life when talking about life throughout the Poetics, and it is argued that the poet constructs a second life by simplifying the ordinary life, which is inimitable due to the randomness and multiplicity of the events that make it up. The poet builds her story through this simplification, and the subject of poetic mimêsis is nothing other than this simplified life. The universality of poetry is not based on revealing universal truths about life, but on the fact that the same plot, constructed by simplifying life, and which will necessarily lead to happiness or unhappiness, can be repeated in different cases by changing the names of the characters, places and times.

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