Platonism: Art As A Superficial Imitation Of Ideal Forms

In Book X of “The Republic of Plato” by Allan Bloom, Plato utilizes Socrates as his voice to discuss the subject of poetry in his optimal society. While he thinks about gymnastics and music as essential pieces of society, he views poetry as something that is not only unnecessary but harmful. In this manner, art reflects the mind away from the formation of the truth and toward elusive reality. Poets and artists often mimic the imitations of truth, consequently, allowing their audience to become enchanted in their work. Poetry and Arts are often a creation established from imitation and are a portrayal of falsifiable reality. Thus, the illusion of poetry and arts, are conveyed through interpretation, as opposed to the perception of truth.

There are several grounds to why Plato believes that banishing poetry could be increasingly prominent to society. To him, an imitation, irrespective of how true, will ceaselessly be not so great as the authentic. The primary view is that the arts are a superficial imitation, or mimesis, of nature, otherwise known as the ideal forms. Similarly that a reflection simplest affords the viewer with a one-dimensional mirrored image of its subject matter, art inhabits a superficial perspective of the universal ideal forms. Plato states that this is a result of art being a mimetic copy which is three times removed from the ideal forms. First and foremost, there figuratively exists divinely created ideal forms. “Therefore, imitation is surely far from the truth; and, as it seems, it is due to this that it produces everything-because it lays hold of a certain small part of each thing, and that part is itself only a phantom”. According to Plato, this world is an imitation of the ideal form which cannot be discerned by the senses. Poetry, which is an art form, and is supposed to portray the world as it is, turns out to be an imitation of the imitation. An example would be relating back to the carpenter and the painter. Plato uses the carpenter and the painter as an example to support his critique and explanation of imitation. Within the example, Plato says, “...they look like they are; however, they surely are not in truth”. This quote explicates that there is no truth in imitation. It is to be interpreted that the truest artisan is the carpenter. This is because the form of the chair has the most realistic. The carpenter's chair is the result of the chair fabricated in his mind. The painter's chair is an imitation of the carpenter's chair and the artist creates an elusive reality. To Plato, the universal forms were untouchable, and any artistic representation of these forms was irrelevant, as they were simply imitations of the reality of these forms- requiring minimal knowledge from the artist. Thus, art does not present the truth however claims to, no matter its superficial nature.

Without art in society, individuals would not be familiar with the ideal forms, as it is an art that speaks to and expresses nature, not so much reality. The reality, the second imitation of the ideal, forms in Plato’s view and nearest to expressing them, does not generally possess the coherence or solidarity that all good art possesses. These are the beliefs that we force on reality in view of our understanding of their depiction in art. Plato believes that art causes its viewers to move away from logical thought, toward emotion, causing humans to act unpredictably and impulsively, thus demeaning their mental state. Art represents a world running on principles of the ideal forms which are pertinent in engaging the audience, not the subject matter itself. An example of art in the present day is crucial to social media. Social media implicates like-ness and perception of an image. In most cases, rather than not- it is interpreted as non-constructive and does not provide knowledge. Individuals may ascertain a conceptual idea from social media, yet it is a replication of imitation- not true knowledge and generality. Through the many forms of technology attainable to us today, individuals are coerced into believing what they are exposed to. For, today’s society is representative of imitation. Social media is correspondent to that of the painter. The painter is twice removed from reality because he allows man to focus on character, rather than truth. Social media is an illusion that removes man away from reality. Thus, society is three times removed from reality and to a certain extent removed from truth and philosophy's teaching.

The Allegory of the Cave is represented as false concepts and deception. Plato develops the Allegory of the Cave to substantiate his view on the nature of art. The Allegory of the Cave is an illustration of ignorance. In this piece, the prisoners view a one-dimensional reality created by artists and possess no knowledge of who controls this reality for them. The cave is a metaphor that symbolizes the unenlightened world, a world of ignorance where individuals know nothing other than the illusions, which they perceive as reality. If a prisoner happened to leave the cave that they were being held in and enter the outside world, they would start out in shock, not used to the new world they are entering, and would want to return back to the cave. When the prisoner is outside the cave, Plato says, “Don’t you think that he’d count himself happy for the change and pity the others?”. The outside world is a metaphor for the enlightened world where the individuals have become educated by seeing the world for what it truly is. After the prisoner realizes the outside world is the real world, he would feel pity for those prisoners who were still stuck within the cave. However, if he were to return to the cave he risks being killed by the other prisoners as they would not believe him. When they realize that these images are not real, only then can they move towards enlightenment. Plato believes that humans cannot understand the conceptual idea of truth, physically. As such, Plato is suggesting that art is an obstacle to the enlightenment and subsequent progress of the ideal society. It is to be learned from Plato, that knowledge cannot be transferred. Knowledge must be understood before it is taught. Thus, why the prisoners were forced to leave the cave and understand the world around them. In society, individuals must force themselves out of the cave by ignorance, by discovering what is true for themselves.

To conclude, Poetry and the Arts are regularly made established from impersonation. As found in Book X of the Republic, imitation is the farthest removed from reality and is delineated through falsifiable truth. Poetry and Art reflect the mind away from the real world and pressures man to believe in illusive thought. Plato critiques Poetry and Art and makes it prominent that they are not agents of truth. It is Philosophy that is the closest form to the truth. As Philosophers express teachings of unique thought, as opposed to deeming past considerations as their own. In this way, the illusion of poetry is conveyed through interpretation, in contrast to the understanding of truth through the widespread knowledge behind the way of thinking.