Plat

owast hemostdi st
inguisheddi scipl
eofSocrates.the4t
hcent ur
yBCt owhi chhebel onged
wasanageofi nquir
yandassuchPl ato’
schiefi
nterestwasphil
osophicali
nvestigationswhich
formthesubjectofhi
sgr eatwor ksinf orm ofdi
alogues.Hewasn'taprofessedcr i
ticof
l
iter
atur
eandhi scri
ti
calobser v
at i
oni sn'
tfoundinanysingl
ebook.Theyl i
escat t
eredi nseven
ofhisdi
alogues,morepar t
icul
arlyint heJon,thesymposium,therepubli
candt hel aws.

Hewast hefi
rstsy
stematiccri
ti
cwhoi nqui
redint
ot henatureofi
magi
nati
onli
ter
atureandput
forwardtheor
ieswhicharebothill
uminati
ngandpr ovocat
ive.Hewashi
mselfagreatpoetand
hisdial
oguesar et
heclassicworksoftheworldli
terat
urehavingdr
amati
c,l
yri
cal
andf i
cti
onal
elements.

Hegi
vest
het
heor
yofmi
mesi
s(i
mit
ati
on)Thear
tsdeal
wit
hil
l
usi
onort
heyar
eimi
tat
ionofan
i
mit
ati
on,

Twiceremovedfr
om r eal
ity
.Asamor al
i
stPl
atodisappr
ov esofpoetrybecauseitisi
mmor al
,as
aphil
osopherhedisapprovesofi tbecausei
tisbasedinfalsehood.Hesay sthatphi
losophyis
bett
erthanpoet
rybecausephi losopherdeal
swithidea/
truth,whereaspoetdealswithwhat
appearstohi
m.Hebel ievedthattruthofphi
l
osophywasmor ei
mpor t
antthanthepleasureof
poetr
y.

Accordingtohim all
artsarei mitat
iveormimeti
ci nnatur
e.Hewr oteinthe“ Republi
c”thatideas
aretheultimat
er eal
i
ty.Thingsar econcei
vedasi deasbefor
et heyt akepracticalshapes.So,
i
deai sori
ginalandthethingi scopyoftheideaofchairinhi
smi nd.Thus, chairi
soncer emov ed
fr
om reali
ty.Thus,poet/
artisttakesmanawayf rom reali
tyr
athert hantowar dsit.Thus,art
ist
deal
si nil
lusi
on.

Plato’
sthreemainobjecti
onstopoetr
yarethatpoet
ryisnotet
hical
,phi
l
osophi
caland
pragmatic,i
notherwords,heobj
ectedtopoetr
yfrom t
hepointofvi
ewofeducati
on,f
rom
phil
osophicalpoi
ntofviewandfrom moralpoi
ntofvi
ew.

Iti
snotet hi
calbecauseitpromotesundesi r
ablepassi ons,i
tisnotphi l
osophicalbecausei t
doesn'tpr ov
idetrueknowledge,anditisnotpr agmat i
cbecausei ti
si nfer
iortothepract i
calart
s
andt herefor
ehasnoeducat i
onalvalue.Plat
ot hanmakesachal l
enget opoetstodef end
themsel vesagainsthi
scr i
ti
cism.Her anksimitationonal owerplanet hannarrati
ve,even
throughhi sownwor ksreadl i
kedramat i
cscripts.Itappearsasthroughhi sreasoningist hat
i
mi tati
onofr eal
ityi
snotinitselfbad,butimitationwithoutunderstandingandr easoni sbad.

Platofel
tthatpoetry,l
i
keallformsofar t
,appear stotheinferi
orpar toft hesoul,thei
rrati
onal,
emot i
onalcomedypar t.Thereaderofpoetryi sseduced,intofeelingundesi rableemot i
ons.To
Plato,anappari
tionofpoetryisincomparablewi t
hanappar i
ti
onofr eason, justi
ceandt he
searchfortrut
h.Hesuggest sthatpoetrycausesneedl esslament ationandecst asiesatthe
i
magi naryeventsofsorrowandhappi ness.Itnumbsar ef acul
ti
esofr easonfortimebeing,
paraly
sesthebal ancedthoughtandencour agest heweakerpar tofsoul consti
tutedofthebaser
i
mpul ses.Hencepoet r
yhasnoheal t
hyfunction,anditcannotbecal ledgood.
Tohim dr amaisthemostdanger ousf or
m oflit
erat
urebecausetheaut horisimitat
ingt
hing
thathe/shedoesnotunder stand.Plat
oseeminglyfeel
st hatnowor dsarestrongenought o
condemndr ama.Plat
of el
tthatall
thewor l
d’
sev i
lsderi
vedf r
om onesour ce:afault
y
understandingofreal
it
y.Miscommuni cati
on,confusi
onandi gnorancewer efactsofacorrupt
ed
compr ehensionofwhatalway sstr
ivesfort
ruth.

Hispr i
mar yobject iveinthe“ Republi
c”i snotcomeupwi ththemostr ighteous, intel
li
gentwayt o
l
iveone’ slif
eandt oconv i
nceot her
st ol i
vet hi
sway .Plat
o’squest i
oninbookXi sthe
i
ntellectualstatuesofl it
erature.Hest atuest hat,thegoodpoetcannotcomposedwel lunlesshe
knowshi ssubject .Hewhodoesnothav ethisknowl edgecannev erbeapoet .Pl atosaysof
i
mi tati
v epoetryandHomer ,
amani snott ober everencedmor ethanthet r
uth.Pl at
osay sthis
becausehebel iev esthatHomerspeaksofmanyt hingsofwhi chhehasnoknowl edge,justas
thepai nterwhopai ntsapi ctur
eofchai rdoesn'tnecessar i
lyknowhowt omakeachai r.His
pointist hati
nor dertocopyori mit
atecor rectly,onemusthav eknowledgeoft heor i
ginal.Plat
o
sayst hatimitationi stwiceremov edfr om thet r
ut h.Stori
est hatareuntruehav enov alue,asno
untruest oryshoul dbet oldinthecity.Hest atesthatnot hingcanbel earnedfr om i mit
ative
poet r
y.

I
nbookI IandIIIPl
ato’
smai nconcer
naboutpoet
ryisthatchildr
en’
smindar et
oo
i
mpressionabletobereadingfal
setal
esandmisrepresentat
ionofthetr
uth.Pl
atoreasonsthat
l
i
ter
atureportraystheGodsasbehav i
nginimmoralway sshouldbekeptawayfrom chil
dren,
so
t
hattheywillnotbeinf
luencedtoactthesameway .

Plat
ohassomev erynegati
vevi
ewsont hevalueoflit
eratur
e,healsost
atestheproceduresthat
hefil
lsarenecessaryi
nordertochangepoet ryandlit
eratur
efrom somethi
ngnegativeto
somet hi
ngposit
ive.Hedoesfeetthatsomel i
teratur
ecanhav eredeemi
ngv al
ues.Good,truthf
ul
l
iter
aturecaneducateinst
eadofcorruptingchil
dren.Plat
odoesnotwantl i
ter
atur
et ocorrupt
themind,hewant sitt
odispl
ayimagesofbeaut yofgr ace.