Plato Philosophy of Art

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Plato’s Theory of Art: Contradictions and Overstatements Based on Plato’s Republic and the selected dialogues of Ion, Phaedrus and Symposium, it is apparent that he had a love/hate relationship with the Arts. He paid a lot of attention to what artists were saying and doing, but he also saw the untamed artist as a threat and wanted artists monitored and controlled. Plato’s views about the artist are underscored by two themes. One is that art is imitative and the other is that art is powerful (therefore, dangerous). Plato initially tried to fit the Arts into his philosophical framework by using his uncompromising commitment to reason. Sometimes his views about art seem inconsistent; however, it is also likely that he realized his theory’s shortcomings and softened his views over time. In this account of Plato’s theory of art, I will argue that he overstates the importance of reason, misjudges the artist and ultimately diminishes the artist’s role in society. Theory of Forms Plato’s views on art can best be understood against the backdrop of his theory of Forms. According to Plato, for everything in our world, there is a perfect Form in the abstract realm. The Forms are the ultimate Reality and the “essence” of anything in our world (physical or imaginable) lies within its perfect, eternal and unchanging Form. The Forms are even more real than their physical manifestations; as things depend on the Forms for their very existence. For example, consider a beautiful flower. Although one can appreciate the beauty of a flower, it is an impermanent copy of the Form of a Flower. Likewise, the flower’s beauty is just a hint or “shadow” of the true Form of Beauty. Similarly, consider the mathematical circle. Any circle drawn by a human will always be imperfect. In other words, one can draw a circle, but cannot ever draw the essence of a Real Circle. Many particular things can
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