- - - PLATO'S THEORY OF MIMESIS SUMMARY - - -

Plato was a great ancient Greek philosopher. He born around 428 BC in Athens, Greece and died around 348 BC in Athens, Greece. He was a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. Plato was born into a rich family and he was the Founder of an educational institution named ACADEMY, which was the first institution of higher learning in Western world. Plato was the son of Ariston (his father) and Perictione (his mother). Plato's father, Ariston died in his young age, although the precise dating of his death is difficult. After that her mother Perictione married with her uncle.
Some of his Notable works are - REPUBLIC, SYMPOSIUM, APOLOGY, PHAEDO, ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE, etc.....in which Republic is the most famous.
In his theory of mimesis, Plato says that all art is mimetic by nature and art is an imitation of life. Plato believed that IDEA is the ultimate reality. Art imitates idea so it is imitation of reality. Plato gives a beautiful example of a carpenter and a bed:- So according to Plato when a carpenter gets an idea of making a bed, then only idea is the ultimate reality. And when that same carpenter transforms his idea into physical bed, then the bed becomes the first copy of his idea, and thus it is once removed from the reality. And when artist or painter makes the painting of the same bed which is already made by the carpenter, then the painting becomes the second copy of carpenter's idea and thus it is twice removed from the reality.
So, Plato called the artist an inferior person because he drives us away from the reality. And he doesn't have any knowledge regarding the original idea, and he just copies the thing which is already in existence.
After that Plato compared the poetry with philosophy and said that philosophy is superior than poetry because philosophy deals with ideas whereas poetry deals with illusion and do not teaches us morality.
Plato says that the human soul is divided into three parts :-
1. Rational
2. Spirited
3. Emotional
The rational is the highest part and emotional part is the lowest and because the poets deals with emotions, which is the inferior part of the human soul then the poet is also an inferior being.
Plato’s student, Aristotle, did not agree with the view that the poet is an inferior being. He says that the world of ideals is not a constant one but that it keeps changing. Aristotle says that when a poet writes a poem about a tree, he not only copies it in words but also adds his own imagination to it to give it a better aesthetic representation. The poet takes a form from nature and reshapes it in a different medium. In this way, poetry makes an
improvement upon nature.
Plato said that art is inferior because it do not teaches us morality. On this Aristotle said that the ultimate aim of art is to give us asthetic pleasure and not to teach morality. And when any artist succeeds in pleasing us then he is a good artist and if he fails in doing so, then he is a bad artist. There is no other criteria to judge an artist.
Plato judges poetry from the educational point of view But Aristotle said that we should see poetry from unique standpoint. Aristotle says that everything should be judged in terms of its own aims and objectives, it's own criteria of merit and demerit.
We cannot say that music is bad because it does not paint, or that painting is bad because it does not sing. Similarly, we cannot say that poetry is bad because it does not teach philosophy or ethics. If poetry, philosophy and ethics had identical function, how could they be different subjects? To denounce poetry because it is not philosophy or ideal is clearly absurd.
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Your Queries :-
1. Plato's Theory of Mimesis.
2. Plato's Theory of Imitation.
3. Aristotle's Objection to the Theory of Mimesis.

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