A Reflection on the Interaction between Philosophy and Poetry: The Status of Poetry in the Contemporary World

Platonic discussions on the status of poetry have instigated long-lasting disputes between philosophy and poetry. Plato believed that compared to philosophy, poetry did not express the truth. Essentially, poetry could not access truth. It just lied and could, therefore, mislead. This approach resulted in poets' attempts to defend the nature of poetry for centuries; they changed poetry to a tool for expression of ethical, moral, and political concerns to maintain that even if poetry could not access truth, it could be useful in instructing people. Nonetheless, in the contemporary world where the nature of truth has been questioned and cast doubt on, Philosophy's defense of poetry has in fact led to a defense of the status of poetic ideology. Today, poetry, along with philosophy and science, is a medium to reflect a version of truth, a version which – like the truth of other media – is no more than a representation. In this research, I intend to examine Plato's ideas as well as the criticism of his ideology in recent decades; in addition, the approach of some Iranian researchers concerning the new modes of interaction between philosophy and poetry will be criticized to determine the relationship between poetry and philosophy with truth and to discuss the status of poetry in the contemporary world.