Plato's Republic Analytical Paper

In Plato’s Republic his theory on education is illogical because he makes several particularly impractical suggestions. He believes that the “guardians” of his society should only be taught the stuff which he approves of. Poetry is one example that does not fall under this category because Plato considers it to be only composed of lies. Therefore he will enforce his theory by censoring poetry to his liking. This leads to the ban of laughter and crying because it shows weakness which is not allowed in his ideal society. These suggestions of Plato’s are fundamentally unfeasible because one person cannot control every little aspect of a whole society’s daily life. In the Republic Plato believes that education is the most important thing in a young person’s life. He expresses this by enforcing that children are like sponges and should only be taught the truth. This leads him to sensor what people should read in his society. Poetry is banned because children cannot tell the difference between what is allegorical and what is not in literature. It is true that poetry is not always an accurate representation of life, but that does not mean it should be completely eliminated. Plato wrote that no one knows “the ins and outs of any object more than the person who makes use of it (70).This may be true, however it should not discredit the work of a poet because they do not claim to be all-knowing. A poet may not know the complete background of what they are writing about, but poetry is not meant to inform people about facts. Poetry is meant to let people express their feelings creatively and freely. Taking away the ability to do so takes away a person’s free will. No leader has the right to abolish the freedom of expressing one’s self through writing. Plato argues that stories should not portray people as mourning or crying. He believes that people should not be able to cry because it shows weakness in a person and if you cry you are automatically weak. This is an untrue