Plato and the Affect of Art and Poetry
In the Republic of Plato, the famous philosopher that followed in the footsteps of Socrates, Plato created the ideal society in which would only be successful if its citizens were "just." Every being in his Republic has a certain telos, or destiny in life, which must be followed in order for the Polis to thrive. Their actions are guided by their desire to discover and attain knowledge of the absolute truth or true "form." These forms are an aspect of reality, that consists of unchanging, eternal, perfect entities. According to Plato, only the forms can be objects of knowledge. In other words, there is only one true object, which is the form, and everything else is just a replica or "imitation" of that form. Imitations are often associated with imagination, in the sense that imaginative people take mere images and shadows as the most real things. Plato believes that imagination is the lowest grade of cognitive activity. In the state of imagination, people derive their images about themselves and the world from art and poetry. In the Republic, Plato views art and poetry as imitations of the true form. He considers art and poetry as education that is untruthful, irrational, and can cause extreme damage to the State. Plato has a specific role for poetry in his utopia that is controlled by excessive censorship. Art and poetry are a complex issue in the mind of Plato and may have some relevance in today's concerns about the media.
Anything that doesn't completely represent the truth is ultimately bad for the Polis and its people. Plato views art and poetry as dangerous, because they are merely just an imitation of the form. He considers art and poetry as education that furthers people from the truth. Plato b ...