Plato's Republic
Excerpt from Book X
The painter we say, and will paint reins a bit.
Yes.
But the saddler and blacksmith who will make them.
Sure.
But is this the painter who knows how to be faits les rênes et le mors? Est-ce même celui qui les fabrique, forgeron ou sellier? N'est-ce pas plutôt celui qui a appris à s'en servir, le seul cavalier?
C'est très vrai.
Ne dirons-nous pas qu'il en est de même à l'égard de toutes les choses?
Comment cela?
Il y a trois arts qui répondent à chaque objet : ceux de l'usage, de la fabrication et de l'imitation.
Oui.
Mais à quoi tendent la qualité, la beauté, la perfection d'un meuble, d'un animal, d'une action, if not to the purposes for which each thing is done, either by nature or by man? At
nothing else.
Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that the user of something is the most experienced, and informs the manufacturer of the qualities and defects of his work in relation to the use that he did. For example, the piper will inform the manufacturer about flutes that can be used to play him and he will tell him how he must do, and it will obey.
Probably.
So, who knows good action on the flutes and bad, and the other will work on the basis of the first.
Yes.
Thus, in respect of the same instrument, the manufacturer will, at its perfection or imperfection, a faith that is fair, because it is related to one who knows, and is forced to listen to his advice, but the user who will have the science.
Perfectly.
But the imitator, will he use of the science of things he represents, he will know if they are beautiful and correct or not - or it Will have an opinion right because he will have to get in touch with one who knows, and receive his instructions on how to represent them?
Neither one nor the other.
The imitator has neither knowledge nor right opinion concerning the beauty and faults of the things he imitates.
No, it seems.
It will be charming the imitator in poetry, by his intelligence of the subjects!
Not really!
But he will not want to imitate, without knowing what each thing is good or bad, but probably he will imitate what appears beautiful to the multitude and ignorant.
And what could he do?
So, it seems, two points on which we all agree: first the imitator has no knowledge of what he imitates valid, and that imitation is a kind of child's play, devoid of seriousness, then, that apply to tragic poetry, they compose in verse or iambic verse epic, are imitators in the highest degree.
Sure.
But by Jove! I cried, this imitation is not it far in the third degree the truth?
Si
other hand, on which part of the man she exercises its power?
What do you mean?
From this: the same size, viewed from near or far do not seem equal.
Certainly not.
And the same objects appear broken or right depending on whether one looks at them in water or out of the water, or concave and convex because of the visual illusion produced by the colors, and it is obvious that this causes trouble in our soul. However, addressing this provision of our nature, painting shaded leaves unexpended any means of magic, as is the case of art of the charlatan and many other inventions of this kind.
is true.
But do we did not discover the extent, calculating and weighing excellent preservatives against these illusions, so that what prevails in us that is not the appearance size or small size, quantity or weight, but the decision of what counted, measured and weighed?
Probably.
And these are the business operations of the element reasonableness of our soul.
In this element, indeed.
But it does happen there very often, when he measured it and said that such objects are compared with such other, larger, smaller or equal to simultaneously receive the impression otherwise about the same objects?
Si
But have we not said it was impossible that the same element has, on the same things, and simultaneously, two opposing views?
And we stated reason.
So what in the soul, opinions contrary to the measure does not form, in accordance with the nods to the extent a single element.
No, indeed.
But certainly the element that relies on the measurement and calculation is the best element of the soul.
Probably.
So, who is opposing him will be a less of ourselves.
Necessarily.
It is this admission that I wanted to drive when I said that painting, and generally any kind of imitation, performs his work far from the truth, she has intercourse with an element of ourselves away from the wisdom and does not propose, in this connection and friendship, nothing healthy or real.
is very accurate, "he said.
Thus, poor thing coupled with a weak element, imitation fruit will have only mediocre.
It seems.
But is it just, I asked, the imitation is for the purpose, or one that also addresses the ear, and que nous appelons poésie?
Vraisemblablement, il s'agit aussi de cette dernière.
Toutefois, ne nous en rapportons pas uniquement à cette ressemblance de la poésie avec la peinture; allons jusqu'à cet élément de l'esprit avec lequel l'imitation poétique a commerce, et voyons s'il est vil ou précieux.
Il le faut, en effet.
Posons la question de la manière que voici. L'imitation, disons-nous, représente les hommes agissant volontairement ou par contrainte, pensant, selon les cas, qu'ils ont bien ou mal agi, et dans toutes ces conjonctures se livrant soit à la douleur soit à la joie. Y a-t-il rien de plus dans ce qu'elle fait?
Rien.
Or donc, en toutes ces situations l'homme est-il d'accord avec lui-même? ou bien, comme il était en désaccord au sujet de la vue, ayant simultanément deux opinions contraires des mêmes objets, est-il pareillement, au sujet de sa conduite, en contradiction et en lutte avec lui-même? Mais il me revient à l'esprit que nous n'avons pas à nous mettre d'accord sur ce point. En effet, dans nos précédents propos, nous sommes suffisamment convenus de tout cela, et que notre âme est pleine de contradictions de ce genre, qui s'y manifestent simultaneously.
And we were right, "he said.
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