![]() However, it is an inconsistency in Plato’s argument, since it suggests that corrupting material might possibly approach truth in life, and, naturally, it would follow, in artistic representation. Rosalind Hursthouse points out that this last point is a strong argument for censorship today and is an end in itself. The argument against the representation of the bad in the arts rests on the following: (i) it is a falsehood, (ii) it is wicked or sinful because it is about serious matters and (iii) it corrupts the young. By representing the good in art, we strive to reach true knowledge in this world of illusion. ![]() If Plato’s first arguments (premises) about the nature of God are founded in truth, this would seem to be a logical conclusion, for through experience we know the world and the state of humankind is one of constant change. Therefore, Plato’s conclusion is that “…it must be impossible for a god to wish to change himself.” (The Republic) God, as a perfect and divine being, encompassing beauty and moral truth, could only change for the worse. Sanraedam engraved this representation of the Allegory of the Cave in 1604. It is not God, it is not real and should be treated with caution in artistic representation. From this it follows that evil represented in art is an illusion. Plato’s third premise is that since badness cannot be God, it is an illusion. We must find some other way to account for evil. Therefore, Plato argues, we cannot make God responsible for the evil in the world. Therefore, God cannot be responsible for everything as is commonly said, but only for a small part of human life. The difficulty is that Plato’s premise that “God is perfectly good, and therefore changeless and incapable of deceit,” as described in The Republic, is not provable.įrom the above follows Plato’s second premise, that nothing good is harmful or can do harm. In order to represent God’s truth or reality, restrictions must be placed upon representation. Therefore, for Plato, artistic representation is at best a third remove from reality the removes counted inclusively by the Greek method. Plato asks us to accept the concept that even apparently man-made objects like beds and chairs have an original form belonging to a changeless, eternal world of Forms created by God, leading to his conclusion that life, and art itself, is not a reality. The philosopher sees the true reality rather than the shadows. The philosopher, however, is like a person freed from the cave, who perceives that the shadows are not reality. This is the closest the people can come to perceiving reality. The people see only shadows of forms on the wall, projected from a fire burning behind them. Plato’s Cave Allegory (or story with a hidden meaning) concerns people chained up and facing the blank wall of a cave. Just put your preference in the “I Would Like to Support” Box after you Click to Donate Below: Support This Expert’s Articles, This Category of Articles, or the Site in General Here. Would you like to see more articles like this? We need to “escape from the cave and see…the real objects, the Forms… and gain true knowledge,” quotes Hursthouse. There is just one perfect copy of each of these Forms. Our world “…as we experience it, is an illusion, a collection of mere appearances like reflections in a mirror or shadows on a wall.” (Quoted by Rosalind Hursthouse in “Truth and Representation,” Philosphical Aesthetics.)įor Plato, the only true reality is the unchanging world of the Forms, created by God, for example, the perfect form of the cat, the bird, the table, the chair. Plato’s Views on ArtĪrt can never truly represent reality, for life itself, of which art is merely a copy, does not represent reality, according to Plato. This important Greek philosopher had little respect for art or poetry. Through these classes, the state would control the masses. the governing class, and the Auxiliaries, ie. In his great work, The Republic, Plato describes his idea of the ideal state, which would be organised into the Guardians, ie. Socrates appears in many of Plato’s dialogues. His teacher was Socrates, who was condemned to death for his so-called “subversive influence” on the youth of Athens. Plato (427-347 BC) has had an enormous influence on Western philosophy. This painting by Raphael, 1509, depicts Plato.
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