The Republic-Book X by Plato is writing that dates back more than 400 years B.C. What is most fascinating to me about these writings by Plato, is that they are still relevant and align with concepts we have today.
The overall meaning of these writings is to convey to the reader that mankind is blinded by art and it cripples us from seeing truth in things. “Then he will no more have true opinion than he will have knowledge about the goodness or badness of his imitations?” (Sentence 129 Plato) What he is saying is that Art in any form is not truth but only a fragment of the imagination. The “imitator”, whether it be a sculpture, painter or artist, has no prior knowledge about how the thing they are making works but they are only tricking its viewer into believing that what they are making is real.
Furthermore, I find it interesting that you can apply this way of thinking to a lot of things we see today. Advertisements trick us into believing that the products they promote will work in ways that are not possible. Commercials show us glamorous shots of women and men that are happy and healthy and the only way to achieve it is to buy the product they are selling. People post pictures of themselves on social media that only show half of their features and cover up the rest with a filter that does not portray a true image.
I believe that Plato’s writings are true given that they are still able to be applied to things Two thousand five hundred years later. I believe that we can learn a lot about his way of thinking. But do we need to give up on art, cast it out and never have art in society? I do not think so because there is a lot to be learned about art as well.
contobe 