Imitation and Imagination: John Ruskin, Plato, and Aesthetics

In the late work Laws, Plato goes so far as to argue for strict censorship of the imitative arts, to be overseen by judges appointed for their pre-eminence in virtue and education. Because creative artists are often incapable of distinguishing what is good from what is evil, the Athenian suggests de...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Carlyle studies annual 2010-01, Vol.26 (26), p.141-164
Main Author: Atwood, Sara
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
British & Irish literature
Carlyle, Jane Welsh (1801-1866)
Carlyle, Thomas (1795-1881)
Imitation
Scottish literature
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the late work Laws, Plato goes so far as to argue for strict censorship of the imitative arts, to be overseen by judges appointed for their pre-eminence in virtue and education. Because creative artists are often incapable of distinguishing what is good from what is evil, the Athenian suggests devising "a law that the poet shall compose nothing contrary to the ideas of the lawful, or just, or beautiful, or good, which are allowed in the state? [...]when the art is once obtained, its reflected action enhances and completes the moral state out of which it arose, and, above all, communicates the exultation to other minds which are already capable of the like" ( Works 20: 73). [...]for Ruskin, "the fineness of the possible art is an index of the moral purity and majesty of the emotion it expresses ... so that with mathematical precision, subject to no error or exception, the art of a nation, so far as it exists, is an exponent of its ethical state" (Works 20: 74). In this cave, the deeper the descent the greater the reward. [...]great men such as Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Scott, Carpaccio and Turner do not imitate but reveal essence, the product of an "inner secret spring" (Works 4: 252) of truth. References are provided according to Stephanus pagination. [...]Republic 601 refers not to the page number, but to the marginal Stephanus number, which is constant in every edition. 4.
ISSN:1074-2670