Plato’s Theory of Mimesis and Aristotle’s Defence. A details comparison Between Plato and Aristotle.
For Aristotle art is the imitation of nature but it is not slavish imitation as Plato's view rather it is a creative imitation. Nature is dull and incomplete! and ugly. It is an artist who turns dull nature into a golden colour. He employs his creative faculty imagination and style of presentation to decorate the raw material of nature.
In poetics, Aristotle replied to the charge made by Plato on poetry that it's twice removed from reality.
Plato's concept of Mimesis :
In his theory of Mimesis, Plato says that all art is mimetic by nature; art is an imitation of life. He believed that ‘idea’ is the ultimate reality. Art imitates ideas and so it is an imitation of reality. He gives an example of a carpenter and a chair. The idea of ‘chair’ first came into the mind of a carpenter. He gave physical shape to his idea out of wood and created a chair. The painter imitated the chair of the carpenter in his picture chair. Thus, the painter’s chair is twice removed from reality. Hence, he believed that art is twice removed from reality. He gives first importance to philosophy as philosophy deals with ideas whereas poetry deals with illusion – things which are twice removed from reality. So to Plato, philosophy is superior to poetry. Plato rejected poetry as it is mimetic in nature on moral and philosophical grounds.
Aristotle's view on the concept of Mimesis :
Aristotle replied to the charge made by Plato. He agrees with Plato in calling poetry an imitation. He believes that there is natural pleasure in imitation which is an inborn instinct of man.
Aristotle don't invent the term imitation Plato was the first to use the word in relation to poetry. But he doesn't agree with the view of Plato that poetry is twice removed from reality. Aristotle gives it a new meaning that poetry represents life.
So poetic imitation is no longer considered mimicry but it regarded as an act of imaginative creation by which the poet drawing his material from the phenomenon world makes something new out of it.
Plato says that art is the imitation of the actual is removed from the Truth. It only gives the likeness of a thing in concrete, and the likeness is always less than real. But Plato fails to explain that art also gives something more which is absent in the actual. The artist does not simply reflect reality in the manner of a mirror. Art cannot be a slavish imitation of reality. Literature is not the exact reproduction of life in all its totality.
Plato again says that art is bad because it does not inspire virtue, and does not teach morality. David Daiches summarizes Aristotle’s views in reply to Plato’s charges in brief: “Tragedy (Art) gives new knowledge, yields aesthetic satisfaction and produces a better state of mind.”
While Plato, equated poetry with painting Aristotle equated it with music. The poet did not imitate the surface of things but the reality set within. The mediums of the poet and the painter are different one imitates through forms and colour, and others through language rhythm and harmony. Thus poetry is more akin to music.
Aristotle says that the subject of poetic imitation is the man in action. The poet represents men as worse than they are. He can represent man better than in real life.
According to Aristotle poetry gives pleasure to the reader. He says that a historian merely records what has happened in the past but a poet is a prophet as well. He can also say what may happen in the future what is possible according to the law of probability.
Therefore the difference in the imitation of these arts comes under three heads their means, objective and their manner.
Let's begin to practice Multiple choice questions based on this topics
Question no 1.
According to Plato, Art is dash removed from reality
Options are
A. Once
B. Thrice
C. Twice
D. None of the above
Answer is option C
Question no 2.
According to Plato, art is highly an dash
Options are
A. Imitation - Mimesis
B. Superior
C. Inferior
D. Ugly
Answer is option A
Question no 3.
Plato says with The Republic dash are the ultimate reality.
Options are
A . Ideas
B. Poetry
C Drama
D Style
Answer is option A
Question no 4.
While Plato, equated poetry with painting Aristotle equated it with dash
Options are
A. Music
B. Painting
C. Nature
D. Life
Answer is option A
Question no 5 .
Who used the term mimesis for the first time
Options are
A. Plato
B. Aristotle
C. Johnson
D. Longinus
Answer is option A
Question no 6.
In which book did Aristotle explain the idea of mimesis?
Options are
A. Poetics
B. Republic
C. Rethoric
D. The sublime
Answer is option A
Question no 7.
In which book did Plato explain the idea of mimesis?
Options are
A. Poetics
B. Republic
C. Rethoric
D. The sublime
Answer is option B
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