Plato's theory of art centers around his worldview. He has a thoery of Forms, that is he believes that everything human and temporal is merely an imitation of the gods notion of the Form of that thing, whether it be furniture, the heavens, or even a human being. Therefore, everything has value to the extent to which it imitates this Form. For Plato, accurate imitation of a rational, ordered world is the ideal the artist should aim for. Though he understands Homer's poetic prowess, he denounces art's use emotion because he believes that it corrupts man's sense of reason and order. He sees it as contradicting philosophy, because it is more concerned with emotion than with truth. In fact, an imitator (how he refers to artists) are distanced from the true essence of the things they imitate because they have "neither knowledge nor right opinion" about these things.
After reading Plato's thoughts on art, there are a couple of questions I have regarding his theory of art.
How would Plato respond to a modern art gallery? Such pieces are not trying to imitate anything, in fact artists like Pollack actively avoid this practice of imitation and he purely sought to evoke an emotional response. Is he accurate in identifying imitation as the primary goal of art? He sees emotion as an enemy of the "better half" of man, but isn't man's emotional capacity important to his existence? Cold calculations can be dangerous, and I would argue that having passion is to be embraced as it invigorates and motivates our lives.
Where does beauty play into Plato's theory of art? Is beauty determined by the extent to which it imitates the Form of that object, or can beauty exist equally outside of the Forms as well?
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