Chapter 10

My thoughts after reading chapter ten was whether or not we should follow Plato's advice on artists and their work. In the last chapter, Plato certainly softened his stance on art. He originally said things like art and poetry should be banned outright because it can degrade society. Now he claims that art can be allowed but we must ensure that it is sending the right message. The example he uses is Homer. We can allow his work to be disseminated but first we must alter the message so it is not projecting the wrong ideas. For instance, Homer's glorification of war. 

So would it be beneficial in our own society to alter or change art to protect people. While I can think of a few positive reasons to do so, I think that Plato may not be giving people enough intellectual credit. If we were to go and censor an extremely inflammatory work like Mein Kampf, maybe remove all of the parts blaming the Jews for Germany's problems, this alteration would do more harm then good. The problem is that if people read the watered down version they would be unable to grasp how dangerous and hateful (and poorly written) the book is. Plato seems to believe that most people are easily influenced and that just reading a book like Mein Kampf or the Illiad will massively change how they think. I am willing to believe that people are smarter than that. I think that when people read this books they are influenced but in the opposite manner. They are able to read this and understand "wow this guy is insane I get why everyone hates Hitler now" and not turn into some kind of fanatic like Plato fears.