tailieunhanh - Lecture Literary criticism - Lecture 3: Republic by plato book X

The contents of this chapter include all of the following: Plato’s argument against poetry, the argument, theory of form, poets & dramatists, philosophers & forms, art is thrice removed from reality, illusionary nature of visual arts,. | REPUBLIC BY PLATO BOOK X PLATO’S ARGUMENT AGAINST POETRY Earlier in “Republic” Socrates mentioned that certain kinds of music and poetry should be banned from the curriculum of study for the future rulers of the state. Because some art is not morally uplifting,hence perhaps bad for children,here Socrates considerably broadened his attack on visual & dramatic arts THE ARGUMENT He starts out by trying to come at a definition. He says that “Artists are said to create are therefore known as creative artists. EXAMPLE Lets take an example of something an artist produces e-g a bed. When a painter paints a picture of a bed,we agree that it is not a real bed. The artist has probably seen a bed built by a carpenter and copied his picture. THEORY OF FORM The bed which was built by the craftsman and on which we sit and rest is not the “real bed” either. The true real bed is the form of the bed. Only the forms are real;the bed is the copy of the form and the paiting is the copy of that | REPUBLIC BY PLATO BOOK X PLATO’S ARGUMENT AGAINST POETRY Earlier in “Republic” Socrates mentioned that certain kinds of music and poetry should be banned from the curriculum of study for the future rulers of the state. Because some art is not morally uplifting,hence perhaps bad for children,here Socrates considerably broadened his attack on visual & dramatic arts THE ARGUMENT He starts out by trying to come at a definition. He says that “Artists are said to create are therefore known as creative artists. EXAMPLE Lets take an example of something an artist produces e-g a bed. When a painter paints a picture of a bed,we agree that it is not a real bed. The artist has probably seen a bed built by a carpenter and copied his picture. THEORY OF FORM The bed which was built by the craftsman and on which we sit and rest is not the “real bed” either. The true real bed is the form of the bed. Only the forms are real;the bed is the copy of the form and the paiting is the copy of that image of an image. POETS & DRAMATISTS What is true for the painter is true for the poets & the dramatists as they also paint pictures with their words “creating” what we call images. So when they pretend to be authorities on morality religion nature and all sorts of truth that is all simply but pretense. PHILOSOPHERS & FORMS Philosophers know the form & Goodness do not know the truth. ART IS THRICE REMOVED FROM REALITY Take an example of a birdle. The craftsman who made it,has better knowledge of it than the painter who paints it. The man who is to use this birdle and the one who has ordered it and knows how he wants it,knows a little bit more about the birdle than the craftsman. But the real birdle is the “form of the Birdle”. The painting made would be thrice removed from reality i-e it would be an immitation of an immitation. ILLUSIONARY NATURE OF VISUAL ARTS We are surrounded by superious info and illusionary experience. Only an experience in reason can .