PLATO

Plato

(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato)

    Plato (427 to 347 BC) was an influential ancient Greek philosopher who represented the classical age born at Athens to a noble family. He was one important disciple of Socrates and the great teacher of Aristotle. According to the "Benet's reader's encyclopedia" Plato was originally named Aristocles, later called "Plato" because of his wide forehead, robust physique, the quality of his writing or a variety of other explanations. He believed in equal education for all and made first Higher Learning Academy in the Western World. Plato was the innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms in philosophy and has written 36 books including, Republic; the first Utopian  novel in the world, Apology, Phaedrus, Laws which provided uncountable contribution to the art of criticism.

          

          Plato was an ideal man who believed idea is primary and matter is secondary. The Renaissance classic painter Raphael's  the School of Athens Plato is walking beside his student Aristotle and he is pointing up. It further emphasizes Plato is an ideal man. He is also considered as the first person who enforced the value of decorum in Art. According to him there are two kinds of Arts. They are,

1. fine arts 

2. useful Arts 

          He said that there was a place only for those who are practicing useful art such as medicine and agriculture, but who were practicing fine art such as literature, painting, music, etc. should be banished. According to Penelope Murray's book, "Classical literary criticism," Plato had written poetry until he met his teacher Socrates and then after he became a philosopher. He divided poetry into two types.

1. Dithyrambic / purely lyrical

2. Mimetic / imitated

          To his perspective literature isn't pragmatic, it takes men away from reality rather than the move towards it. So the production of art corrupt individuals as well as the state. Further, poets are unable to deliver current details through poetry because this world is only the shadow of real. This Platonic real and Shadow concept has shown by his "Allegory of the cave."He suggested truth as the test of poetry and when he talked about the concept of mimetic he applied it not only for poetry but also for painting music and drama. In Republic it is shown; "A painted is like a person who picks up a mirror, carries it with him around." (596 d - e)

          With all these reasons Plato attacked poetry on three grounds. They are,

1. poetic inspiration 

2. the emotional appeal of poetry 

3. its non normal character

Without thinking long-time poets write many things by sudden inspiration. Therefore, those kind of sudden output cannot take place of philosophy. Then being a product of inspiration, it affects the emotions and heart rather than reason and intellect. And poetry exists with the lack of morality. Therefore, Plato's view of art was,

 1. art is useless it hasn't intellectual value

 2. art is potentially dangerous

          When he commented on drama, he stated that drama consists with actions which also imitate in real life. It has bad moral influence because, drama arouses baser Instincts by offering cheap pleasure to the audience.

So he talked about drama under these 3 categories,

 1. It appeals to base instincts 

 2. effects of impersonation 

 3. tragic and comic pleasure 

          However, his observations on the sources of tragic and comic pleasure were an important contribution to the drama and his continuous criticizing of poetry was the Plato's contribution toward the criticism. Because of with this reason, intelligent people used to think more and more about poetry and to look within different angles without accepting them at once.

 

                                          By

                         ❤️ Tharushi Fernando ❤️