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Lauren Johnson
Professor Hicks
Art and Society
23 October 2015
Plato and Art Response
Plato has a unique idea about the world. He believes everything in this world is a copy of
the ideal world. He sees the world broken down into Forms or Ideals. These ideals are always
changing and never rational. This idea passes over into his views of art. He sees art as a copy of a
copy of a Form. He already believes that the world is a copy of these forms or ideals so he
believes that art is a copy of what is already a copy. He also believes that art can be powerful and
potentially dangerous. Plato thinks that freedom can be bad without being properly trained and
that art is another form of freedom and can give people too much power.
Platos view on art is different than any of the other views we have talked about. I think
his view looks at art in a way that focuses more on the image itself and not the content and
meaning behind it. He talks about how art is just a copy of something, but most of art is unique
and different and there is nothing like it. I understand where his ideas are coming from, but art is
so much more complicated than just a painting or sculpture. We have learned throughout this
semester how to see the meaning and beauty behind each piece of art. The more art that we look
at the more I realize art is what you make it. With this being said Platos idea of art being too
powerful is a weak argument. In my opinion art has a different effect on different people and just
because it can effect some people more and maybe inspire them to do something I dont think

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that is necessarily too much power. I think art is more how you interpret it and the value that is
has on you.
Platos views differ from those of Tolstoys because Tolstoy believes that art is a way of
interaction between man and man. He believes that a good work of art is something that sparks
emotions and lets people connect with not only the artwork but the artist themselves. In my
opinion Platos views of art seem to be more negative while Tolstoys are more positive.
Tolstoys ideas focus more on what the artist is putting in to the work and how the artist is
connecting with the audience while Platos view focuses on the art itself and the more definite
images it is portraying. Tolstoy believes art is everywhere and that the world is filled with art.
Plato believes the world is an imitation of an ideal world. Both philosophers are able to see the
power behind art. Tolstoy sees the power in the connection between artist and audience while
Plato sees the power in the ability for art to influence behavior and actions.
At the beginning of the semester I only thought of art as something that is beautiful and
nice to look at. I never really thought of it as being more than that. As the semester progresses I
am realizing more and more that art has so much more depth than just what is one the outside. It
can empower people, it can inspire people, it can make people feel emotions, and it can help
people to feel more at peace. Art is so much more complicated than I ever imagined and my
definition has completely changed since the semester began.