philosophical Perspective

• Art as an Imitation

  • In Plato’s the Republic, paints a picture of artists as imitators and art as mere imitation.
  • In his description of the ideal republic, Plato advises against the inclusion of art as a subject in the curriculum and the banning of artists in the Republic.
  • In Plato’s metaphysics or view of poetry, the things on this world are only copies of the original, the eternal, and the tru entities that can only be found in the World of Forms.
  • For example, the chair that one sits in is not a real chair. It is an imperfect copy of the perfect “chair”.
• Art as imitation

  • Plato was convinced that artist’s merely reinforce the belief in copies and discourage men to reach for the real entities in the World of Forms.
  • Plato was deeply suspicious of arts and artist for a reasons; 1. They are appeal to the emotion rather to the rational faculty of men. 2.They imitate rather that lead one to reality.
  • Poetry rouses emotions and feelings and thus, clouds rationality of people.
  • Art is just an imitation of nature imitation. A painting is just an imitation of nature, which is also just an imitation of reality in the World of Forms.
• Art as imitation

  • Art then is to banished, alongside the practitioners, so that the attitudes and actions of the members of the Republic will not be corrupted by the influence of the arts.
  • For Plato, art is dangerous because it provides a poetry placement for the real entities that can only be attained through reason.