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PLATO VS. POETRY:
“Poetry Corrupts People”
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According to Plato an ancient philosopher poetry corrupts people.
He explained some strong opinions against it. If you think modern critics are harsh, let me tell you what he said. He just threw the poet out of his ideal world like we discard the trash.
Breaking down 3 major attacks on poetry. — later on, another philosopher emerges in defense of poetry
1. Moral Criticism: Poetry Corrupts People
According to Plato, poetry had a bad influence on people. From his understanding, poetry distracts people from their moral duties, seduces them into committing wrong, and even tells us lies about god.
Why did he go on so harsh and say something so mean?
His biggest issue was:
Few poets painted gods as flawed, shaping the opinion that if humans make mistakes, possibly god himself is flawed too.
