Plato say on Art

[ajazali]

Re: Plato say on Art

@el_topo

Big questions, I’m lazy so I’ll give small answers.

1. He has influenced western thought in ways beyond his opinions on poetry. See his Cave analogy.

2. He basically believed that people are dumbasses, they pay more mind to passion and belief than to logic. He felt poetry furthered the dumbass-ness because it is based on inspiration rather than knowledge. At the time, I believe, poetry by way of theatrical performances was more of an established field than the study of philosophy. So in essence he was rallying against what is mainstream.

Your point seems valid, but the message of Plato is clear regarding not only poetry but also art.
Considering your point of Plato’s thought about poets and artists, think of what world would be without the art.
Without Art, william shakespeare would be a waste, Hollywood means nothing, no craze and charm of buying new electronic and IT products among people. So world would far more different then what it is today. I would rather say that Art is everywhere today.

However, I kind of agree that western philosophers are reproducing other ideas of him. But I also think that there has always been a communication gap between philosophers and their audience or common people.