OLD QUARREL BETWEEN POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY

Old Quarrel between Poetry and Philosophy

Old Quarrel between Poetry and Philosophy

Introduction 

In Book Ten of the Republic, Socrates refers to a long-standing quarrel between philosophy and poetry. The ensuing discussion of this quarrel raises two fundamental questions for the reader. First: what precisely is the nature of the quarrel? Second: if we assume that Socrates takes the side of philosophy, how are we to reconcile this with the fact that Plato, the creator of the dramatic Socrates, is, as the author of philosophical dialogues, himself a poet? This problem is obviously related to the question of why Plato presents Socrates in the Phaedrus as a sharp critic of writing. If we take the term “poetry” (poiesis) in its extended sense of “production,” the question of is obviously related to the question of why Plato presents Socrates in the Phaedrus as a sharp critic of writing (Bloom, 1991). If we take the term “poetry” (poiesis) in its extended sense of “production” the question of writing is clearly a specific instance of the more general issue.

Discussion

These problems lead to the more fundamental question whether there is a difference in nature between philosophy and poetry, as opposed to conventional differences in the use of meter, rhyme, and diction. It is not difficult to see that in the Republic, despite some confusion in the order of discussion, two charges are leveled against poetry. First, it produces images instead of a direct apprehension of originals, or in other words, falsehoods masquerading as the truth. Second, poetry is morally or politically defective because it encourages the license of desire, and in particular, of Eros.

As we reflect upon the Republic, however, as well as upon the balance of the Platonic corpus, these charges become ambiguous. I have already mentioned the fact that the Republic, like all Platonic dialogues (not to say all writings) is itself a poem. The thoughtful reader will wonder whether Plato himself can validate his distinction between originals and images by means of writing, that is to say, a poem, and so, presumably, an image. Second, in the Republic Socrates justifies “medical” or “noble” lies on the part of the philosophical guardians, for the benefit of the city? Third, whereas Eros is restricted in the Republic by mathematics, which is intimately connected to philosophy, and in a sense is identified as its essence, it is also true that, even in the Republic, but more extensively elsewhere, Socrates is explicit about the erotic nature of philosophy (Ferrari & Griffith, 2000). If we take the term “poetry” (poiesis) in its extended sense of “production” the question of writing is clearly a specific instance of the more general issue.

These questions are sufficient to warrant another Look at the quarrel between philosophy and poetry. We take our bearings, properly enough, by the explicit mention of the quarrel in the Republic, X, 607b5. Socrates goes on to justify the exclusion from his and Glaucon's city of “the hedonic poetic and mimesis” ...