Drama on Trial Gorgias; Arguing Two Sides to a Question ; Plato Republic ; Aristotle Poetics Plato Socrates

2 Midterm  Genre irrelevant? The what of plays to their original audiences  Quotes generic answers overlooked issues  Essay (i.e., critical thinking) accurate grasp of “lenses” unreflective dismissal superficial critique

3 Agenda  Critique in Action, Or, What Would Plato Say?  Introduction to Readings Evolution of a Debate  Debate: Drama in the Classroom Pros and Cons …

Critique in Action, Or, What Would Plato Say?

Plato Republic: Book 3 (opening), Socrates speaking: “But if they [young Guardians-to-be] are to be courageous, must they not learn … lessons of such a kind as will take away the fear of death?” “And can he be fearless of death … who believes the world below to be real and terrible?”

London Telegraph: “Disney’s hags drawn into ageism debate” “A study by American researchers at Brigham Young University, Utah, looked at 93 characters who appeared to be aged 55 or older from 34 Disney films going back 70 years.”... “But a significant minority were portrayed as unintelligent, nasty, bad-tempered or useless, giving children a bad impression.”

School systems across U.S. challenge books on reading lists Each school year as teachers and administrators decide which books are appropriate for their students to read, they may exclude or ban certain books such as The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird and Song of Solomon because of their mature themes.... Many books that have been banned, such as The Catcher in the Rye, teach tolerance, self-worth and individuality, Krug wrote.... In Georgia, after hearing complaints from some parents, the Glynn County school board discussed banning The Catcher in the Rye from the high school’s curriculum.

“We may state the matter thus: Imitation imitates the actions... on which human beings imagine a good or bad result to have ensued. And human beings will be glad or grieve accordingly.... But in all this variety of circumstances is... is there not strife and inconsistency in a person’s life?... For he indulges the irrational nature which has no discernment of greater and less, but thinks the same thing at one time great and at another small — he is a manufacturer of images and is very far removed from the truth.” (Plato Republic, in “Drama on Trial” pp ) MEDEA: “I know indeed what evil I intend to do, But stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury (thumos), / Fury that brings upon mortals the greatest evils.” (Euripides Medea p. 35, trans. Warner)

Introduction to Readings Evolution of a Debate

10 Gorgias ( BCE)  from Helen: “Speech is a mighty potentate”  from another work: “ Tragedy is a form of deception in which the deceiver is more righteous than the non-deceiver, and the deceived wiser than the undeceived ”

11 Your thoughts… how?  [comments]

12 Plato’s ( BCE) Republic (ca. 475)  Justice, via…  “City of Words” guardians craftsmen farmers  BOOKS 2-3 (a)moral myth administrative lies (a)moral imitation “noble lie”  BOOK 7 (opening) Myth of the Cave  BOOK 10 (meta)physical imitation challenge to poetry myth of cave

Myth of the Cave (Republic 7)

14 Ethics, Aesthetics, Metaphysics, Paedeutics forms/ideas (originals) instances (copies) imitations (copies of copies) philosopherscrafts-personsartists/poets

15 Imitation: Aristotle v Plato Emotional dimension Plato: “[We] delight in giving way to sympathy.... Few persons ever reflect, as I should imagine, that from the evil of others something of evil is communicated to themselves.” Aristotle: “Tragedy … is … imitation … with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions.” Educational dimension Plato: “Thus far then we are pretty well agreed that the imitator has no knowledge worth mentioning of what he imitates.” Aristotle: “Poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements relate to things of universal import, whereas those of history relate to particulars.”

Debate: Drama in the Classroom Pros and Cons …

17 Arguments pro and contra… pro-Plato  artists don’t represent life real professions better  embody the false anti-Plato  acting allows people to feel emotionally outside your life  acting can promote empathy