 Shifting focus from benefits located in the expressive work to those located in the emotional listener, the oldest suggestion is Aristotle’s theory of catharsis, according to which our negative emotional response to negatively expressive art results in a (positive) psychological purgation of the negative emotions (Poetics, 6, 1449b21–1450b20). A less therapeutic approach is the suggestion that, since these emotions are without “life implications” (that is, as discussed above, we are not sad about any actual tragic events), we are able to take advantage of our responses to savor these emotions, gain an understanding of them, and be reassured that we have the capacity to feel them (Levinson 1982). A question that must be answered by any defender of this kind of response is the extent to which it explains, first, our persistence in seeking out music that elicits negative emotional experiences and, second, the enjoyment we seem to take in these negative responses, as opposed to putting up with them for their related benefits.