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Plato Pooh-poohs Poets

Plato Pooh-poohs Poets, like Blaming a Leopard for not Being an Antelope Poor Plato misses, glaringly, the point, As eggheads often do.  Poets, he “thinks,” Are worse than useless.  That’s due to their joint Mistake of using mimesis (which stinks)...

Sing in Me, Rational Muse!

   Sing in Me, Rational Muse! Plato’s “descriptions of poetic inspiration occur over a long period of time, ranging from his earliest works to his latest, and there is considerable uniformity in what says.  Throughout P.’s work the mental state of the inspired poet is...

The Poet!

               The Poet! “light, winged, holy creature” ~ The words of Socrates to describe a poet, as quoted in Penelope Murray, Plato on Poetry, 8 That’s always how I’ve thought about myself, Yup, yes, of course, at least when I have thought Of me as “poet”—surely...

Ever and Always Death is Their Final Pathetic Option

Ever and Always Death is Their Final Pathetic Option “It is therefore necessary to give orders, not only to poets,but also to all artists and craftsmen, that they should portray the image of goodness in their works and avoid everything that is ugly and bad…”. ~...

  Plato’s Probity Paradox

  Plato’s Probity Paradox “But in fact he [Socrates] concludes (a) that potential guardians should imitate only good men … and (b) that they should imitate as little as possible.” ~ Penelope Murray, Plato on Poetry, 5 “To thine own self be true” ~ Polonius If...