#Plato and #Aristotle

~~~~~~~~
#Plato and #Aristotle
~~~~~~~
Introduction
~~~~~~~
“All that is
literature seeks to
communicate
power, all that is
not literature
seeks to
communicate
knowledge” says
Thomas De
Quincy. We shall
study the
literature of
power and its
evaluation.
Literature of
power is also
referred as
creative writing
while evaluation
of creative
writing is referred
as criticism.
~~~~~
The  critical
#enquiry had
begun almost in
the 4th century
B.C. in Greece.
Plato, the great
disciple of
Socrates, was the
first critic who
examined poetry
as a part of his
moral philosophy.
~~~~~~
Plato was
basically a moral
philosopher and
not a literary
critic. Plato’s
critical
observations on
poetry lie
scattered in The
Ion, The
Symposium, The
Republic and The
Laws . In The Ion,
he advocated
poetry as a
genuine piece of
imaginative
literature, but in
The Republic
which is a
treatise on his
concepts of Ideal
State, he rejected
poetry on moral
and philosophical
grounds.
~~~~~~
#Plato was a great
moral philosopher
and his primary
concentration was
to induce moral
values in the
society and to
seek the ultimate
Truth. So when
he examines
poetry his tool is
rather moral and
not aesthetic. He
confused
aesthetics with
morality and
ultimately
concluded poetry
as immoral and
imitative in
nature. On the
other hand,
~~~~~~
#Aristotle – the
most
distinguished
disciple of #Plato
– was a critic,
scholar, logician
and practical
philosopher. The
master was an
inspired genius
every way greater
than the disciple
except in logic,
analysis and
commonsense.
He is known for
his critical
#treatises: (i) The
#Poetics and (ii)
The #Rhetoric ,
dealing with art
of poetry and art
of speaking,
respectively.
Aristotle
examines poetry
as a form of art
and evaluates its
constituent
elements on the
basis of its
aesthetic beauty.
For the centuries,
Aristotle had
been considered
as a law-giver in
the field of
criticism in
Europe. Aristotle
actually observed
the then available
forms of
literature and
analyzed them
and codified the
rules. In his work
he has
described the
characteristics of
Tragedy, Comedy
and Epic in
elaborative
manner. But
unfortunately, the
library of Athens
was burnt down in
which the most
part of his
treatise was lost
whatever is
available at
present is
considered as
The Poetics.
Fortunately we
find a detailed
note on Tragedy,
which throws
light also on the
fundamental
elements of good
literature.