Irregular Feelings: Mimesis, Poikilia, and the Emotions in Plato’s Republic

Journal title RIVISTA DI STORIA DELLA FILOSOFIA
Author/s Pia Campeggiani
Publishing Year 2018 Issue 2018/4
Language English Pages 27 P. 541-567 File size 249 KB
DOI 10.3280/SF2018-004001
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Republic. This paper deals with the psychology of poetic mimesis in Plato’s Republic and its consequences for artists and audiences in terms of emotional arousal. Focusing on the conceptual bonds between µ?µ?s?? and p??????a and the effects they exert on emotions, the Author discusses Plato’s ethical concerns about µ?µ?s?? from a vantage point that emphasizes the role it plays in structuring human cognition. In doing so, the Author aims to show the way in which aesthetic experience and the emotional engagement it calls forth jeopardize the unity and justice of Plato’s wellorganized city and its citizens’ harmonious souls by having a uniquely powerful effect on the human ability to learn.�

Keywords: Plato, mimēsis, poikilia, emotions, education

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Pia Campeggiani, Irregular Feelings: Mimesis, Poikilia, and the Emotions in Plato’s Republic in "RIVISTA DI STORIA DELLA FILOSOFIA" 4/2018, pp 541-567, DOI: 10.3280/SF2018-004001