A Comparative Study of Plato and Aristotle Views about Mimesis and Poetry

Plato and Aristotle agree about the mimetic nature of art; however, they have different ideas about art, poetry and mimesis. Aristotle following his master, Socrates, and for justice in utopia, introduces the mimesis as a kind of inspiration, and finds the poets unable to understand the Truth, which is in the World of Forms and believes that their works are immoral and misleading for young peoples. So the artists and poets have no way in his utopia. In contrast to moral criticism of Plato, Aristotle presents Aesthetic criticism and rejects the World of Forms and ignoring the inspiration, introduces the poetry as a technique with logical rules and is seeking a way to achieve aesthetic values of an art work. In Aristotle's view, poetry is more philosophic and superior than history because of its attention to generalities and the faults which may be found in poetic works. Both philosophers believed that the poetry has a great influence on human mind. The difference is that Plato scores this influence as the cause of psychosis; however, Aristotle considering the influence as a mental refinement and praises it.