Plato as a literary critic

Literary Criticism

1. Welcome

2. Plato as a literary critic Paper: Literary Criticism

3. Plato (428/427 or 424/423 BC428/427 or 348/347 BC)

4. Introduction Plato was: an immensely influential ancient Greek philosopher a student of Socrates Founder of Academy in Athens where Aristotle studied Writer of philosophical dialogues which include Ion, Lysis, Gorgias,Symposium, Phaedrus and Republic Plato’s theory of art and literature are mostly contained in Ion and Republic Homer was a major influence on Plato

5. Historical Context Plato lived at a time of political decline Education was in a sorry state Courage, heroism, magnificence were the highly prized virtues of that time Literature became immoral and corrupt Philosophers and orators were regarded superior to poets and artists

6. 2. Imitation (Mimesis) Ideas or heavenly archetypes alone are real Earthly things are mere copies of them Eg : beauty we see here is only a copy of the ideal beauty which exists in heavenly realm Earthly beauty is only an imitation of heavenly beauty Thus imitation or mimesis is only a representation and is not creative

7. Plato’s critical precepts Poetic inspiration Poet is divinely inspired like the prophets Poetry is the result of divine inspiration It is not a craft that can be learned and practiced at will Poetry is not rational Poets write in a moment of frenzy, they do not often understand what they are writing Therefore poetry cannot be relied upon Poets may express divine truths but they are beyond the comprehension of ordinary human beings

8. Eg : a chair: it is thrice removed from reality It exists first as idea Second as object of representation Third as object of representation in art

9. Then he is pulled to the entrance of the cave His eyes are accustomed to dark and so day light is hurting his eyes This world of daylight is the realm of Ideas Gradually he looks up and understands the ultimate source of light and life This process is a metaphor of education and enlightenment This enlightened person has the moral responsibility to bring others also to the entrance of the cave and make them enlightened

10. Cave image The physical world is in the form of a cave All the human beings are trapped inside it from the beginning of life Human beings are stationery, they cannot move their heads and can perceive only shadows and sounds Then suddenly one of the humans is released and is encouraged to travel towards the entrance of the cave

11. Plato’s attack on poetry Plato attacks poetry on four grounds Moral Intellectual Emotional Utilitarian

12. 1. Moral Poets cater to popular tastes and produce tales of man’s vices Poetry do not promote social morality Poets lie about gods and make them corrupt, immoral and dishonest like human beings Drama is more harmful than poetry Judgement in dramatic matters is left to many Result is lawlessness

13. 3. Emotional Poetic truths are full of contradictions They lack moral restraints Poetry is not a substitute for knowledge based on reason Forms of poetry like epic, tragedy and comedy are imitative The readers identify themselves with the fictitious characters in such forms of poetry This leads to the unhealthy weakening of human characters

14. 2. Intellectual Poetry is thrice removed from reality Poets have no knowledge of truth They imitate only appearances and not truths

15. 4. Utilitarian Poetry serves no useful purpose because the poet merely imitates the surface of things without knowing how to make use of them

16. Plato’s achievements He introduced the concept of mimesis as an essential characteristic of all art He was the first to state the classical ideals of aesthetic beauty to be incorporated in all artistic works

17. Thank You