Plato's Philosophy: The Theory of Imitation and the World of Forms

The World of Forms

• Ensures virtue and goodness remain grounded in a Good that is beyond space and time, eternal and incorruptible

The Theory of Imitation

• Plato uses the term 'mimesis' with multiple meanings and connotations in the dialogues
• 'Mimesis' refers to likening oneself to another in speech and bodily behavior, addressing the lower part of man's soul
• In the context of education, 'mimesis' has pedagogic attributes

The Concept of Mimesis

• Imitations can grow into habits and become a second nature, affecting body, voice, and mind
• Only the imitation of good men acting wisely is allowed
• Plato divides poetry into good or bad, and poets into beneficial or pernicious

Plato on Poetry

• Comments on poetry occur in multiple dialogues, with the most systematic comments in Ion and the Republic
• In the Ion, Socrates cross-examines a rhapsode on the nature of his art
• The Ion is the shortest of Plato's writings, with a simple plan and dramatic interest in the contrast between Socrates and the rhapsode Ion

The Role of the Poet

• The poet creates images neither by seeing the idea nor from more substantive knowledge of the object
• The poet produces nothing but phenomena by holding up a mirror, producing appearance without true insight
• The poet holds up a mirror to nature, reflecting nature but not reality

Plato's Objections

• Objects to the reflection of objects in the mirror, since things are divided into visible and intelligible parts
• The poet imprisons and limits the image, and imitates without knowledge
• Poetry lacks truth and knowledge, leading to its low estate
• Homer and all poets are imitators of images of virtue and other things, but do not rely on truth