Plato's Republic Summary And Analysis

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In Plato’s dialogue Republic, Book X, the main topic discussed is what type of republic would produce the best people and the best way of life. By having this written in dialogue format, readers are given the ability to think, with the speakers, about these ideas being put forth. The main idea Socrates discusses and believes in is that art should be banned from the republic because it’s imagery is imitated, unreal, and by the end of the dialogue he calls it out to be the works of wizards. To understand Socrates ideas of this topic, we must first understand the classification of objects and producers. According to him, the three types of producers are gods, craftspeople, and imitators (artists). To Socrates, the gods are not the God, rather higher beings compared to humans. Each producer is only capable of producing one type object. The gods create ideas/laws. There are only ever one of these, once it is created, everything else is a copy. These are used by the crafts people to make particulars. These particulars are made from a solid understanding of the ideas provided to the crafts people from the gods. The imitators are copying and making representations of the crafts people’s goods. These representations are made without proper knowledge of the subjects as they are created solely off looks, …show more content…

He boasted of how strong Italy was as a power. Through censorship, in which he controlled everything in the media, he was able to use the arts as a mask of superiority. However, as the war went on, Italian citizens discovered the truth, that they were not half as powerful as they had thought they were. Mussolini was a wizard who used his language and imagery as a spell on the Italian people. Had they not fallen for this Wizards magic, they could have been a better republic for it. If only Socrates was there to warn them to be wary of the arts, they may have been able to flourish in that time

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