PHILOSOPHICAL MIMESIS IN PLATO: FROM TRAGEDY TO THE THEATER OF IDEAS IN THE REPUBLIC

This article aims to outline the relationship between mimesis and Platonic philosophy from the Republic. The prevailing interpretation characterizes mimesis as imitation, denoting something deceptive, illusory or counterfeit. Plato would jettison mimesis from the ideal city, as it would be capable of corrupting even the best citizens. Influential interpreters assume the identity between the Platonic concept of mimesis and the modern and contemporary notion of art. It is argued in this article that such interpretations are partial and disfigure the platonic concept of mimesis. Theater played a fundamental role in the genesis and development of Platonic philosophy. Scenic mimesis inspired the Platonic conception of the empirical world as a representation of the world of ideas. Among academics the term mimesis has taken on a technical meaning, it refers to the relation between the suprasensible ground - the ideas - and the empirical world. Mimetic representation is an indispensable mediation of the intelligible model. Through mimetic representation, the absence of the model is inscribed in the presence without abolishing the ontological distance. Platonic criticism aims at converting mimesis from a disseminator of mythological falsehoods into a powerful instrument of truth and goodness. The philosopher is, on the one hand, the user of mimesis, which determines the quality criteria for paideutic utility. The philosopher, on the other hand, is the most excellent mimic, for he knows the true model and represents it in words. The Republic - as well as the entire the absence of the model is inscribed in the presence without abolishing the ontological distance. Platonic criticism aims at converting mimesis from a disseminator of mythological falsehoods into a powerful instrument of truth and goodness. The philosopher is, on the one hand, the user of mimesis, which determines the quality criteria for paideutic utility. The philosopher, on the other hand, is the most excellent mimic, for he knows the true model and represents it in words. The Republic - as well as the entire the absence of the model is inscribed in the presence without abolishing the ontological distance. Platonic criticism aims at converting mimesis from a disseminator of mythological falsehoods into a powerful instrument of truth and goodness. The philosopher is, on the one hand, the user of mimesis, which determines the quality criteria for paideutic utility. The philosopher, on the other hand, is the most excellent mimic, for he knows the true model and represents it in words. The Republic - as well as the entire for he knows the true model, and represents it in words. The Republic - as well as the entire for he knows the true model, and represents it in words. The Republic - as well as the entirecorpus platonicum - is a mimetic representation. The ontological, epistemological, ethical, political, religious and paideutic density that contextualizes Platonic mimesis completely distinguishes it from what today we usually classify as poetry or art.