Plato was known for being concerned about society and its morals. He knew that art had a great influence on the youths, which is why he expressed some concerns. The philosopher feared that certain negative influences depicted in it could have a negative impact on people. This is why the man has offered some rather drastic solutions, while elaborating on the reasons why he felt that way.
The first concern that the philosopher expresses is that by imitating a negative person, one can eventually adopt their behavior. This is exactly why he believes that a decent person would be more likely to imitate an individual of more sound morals, as opposed to someone who is either faced with a disaster or is sick. The man contrasts the depicted individual with another one, who will be open to imitating anything, even bad things (Hofstadter & Kuhns 22). Meanwhile, unlike the former, the latter will have very little narration in his work. The philosopher’s perception of beauty is represented as something eternal and just in one perspective and unjust in another (Hofstadter & Kuhns 76). Another disdain Plato has for imitation is expressed in his belief in the fact that a person of good morals must not fall victim to sorrow or delinquency. The philosopher believed that they had to be a representation of everything that is morally decent, similar to the depiction of deities in art. That way, the man wanted to ensure the sanctity of morals and avoid negative examples.
Regarding the dangers art has for society, Plato emphasizes societal order. In the first case, he believes that imitating something negative can disrupt society. From his perspective, this is especially notable in cases of young people, who are impressionable and cannot tell right from wrong (Hofstadter & Kuhns 20). By following a negative example, chaos is inevitable as the amount of people affected by this influence increases. Another concern the philosopher had is the way an imitation of delinquent behavior through humans and deities normalizes it. Generally, Plato viewed poetry, along with many other forms of art, as imitative (Hofstadter & Kuhns 19).
From Plato’s perspective, a decent person, especially a god, cannot be capable of harm if they are meant to represent something good. The only case in which a deity is capable of something negative is when its goal is to punish a certain group for doing something atrocious. This, of course, creates a conflict between their function as benevolent beings and their desire to punish criminals. That way, it would be better to claim that deities did not create everything, only the positive things.
The author concludes that art needs to consist of positive influences only, without depicting deities and men of high standards in a negative way. Since younger people are more easily exposed and affected by delinquent influences, the philosopher believed that a more appropriate solution would be to ban such portrayals completely and only teach good things. Plato feared that poor influences could motivate people to follow them as examples. However, the solution offered is too drastic and has negative implications for the officials in control, making it authoritarian. Some of the better solutions would be parental guidance and educating younger people on telling right from wrong. Parents are more capable of telling the two apart, which makes them suitable educators on the matter. They could explain that the negative actions committed by someone are not being promoted by the author and are not to be repeated.
Work Cited
Hofstadter, A., and R. Kuhns. Philosophies of art and beauty: Selected readings in aesthetics from Plato to heidegger. 1976.