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| Travis Wilson |
By Travis Wilson, Class of 2016
Book X of Plato’s Republic centers around the importance of philosophy and the negative effects of poets on the attainment of justice. Socrates recounts why he was required to banish the poets from the city. His argument is not limited to his specific city, but to society as a whole. This raises questions regarding the role of modern media in our society.
There is no question that the expansive range of media that the population has access to today affects us in many ways. Plato’s argument revolves around the fact that poets do not represent the most realistic aspects of the world and corrupt the soul through their supposed knowledge of great topics, of which they only actually have minimal understanding. Their representations are far removed from reality and often focus on lower ideas than Plato deems acceptable and nurturing to philosophy. This only destroys the souls that come in contact with poetry, while a strict focus on reality and not fictional representations is positive and feeds rationality. Plato recognizes the importance of “changing the pictures” in the minds of the people. The outside influences have an enormous effect on our souls, and negative influences such as the poets, prevent us from living a philosophical life of justice.
In today’s culture, poets are generally replaced on a massive scale by our fictional representations of life conveyed through television, music, movies, and even certain books and visual arts. We are much more bombarded by images and far-flung ideas only appealing to our lowest sensibilities. How must we avoid this problem today? Can we avoid this problem today? Is it possible to keep your soul uncorrupted while maintaining relevance? These are questions that I am not personally qualified to answer, but should remain an important concern for anyone who takes Plato’s philosophy seriously.
Travis Wilson, of Burlington, Ky., is a sophomore McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. He is studying history and economics.