On Aristotle’s Inheritance and Development of Plato’s Theory of Imitation

張晨

Until the beginning of modernism， the most admired quality in Western art is mimesis—objects in painting and sculpture closely resembling things in real life. Plato and Aristotle are the two main contributors in the theory of imitation， while as the most prominent student of Plato， Aristotle not only inherits but also develops Platos theory of imitation.

Platos theory of imitation is deeply rooted in his theory of forms with strong political orientation. For Plato， the material world is not real but only the image， the imitation of the real； on the contrary， forms which can only be perceived by philosophers are the fundamental truth. Platos Utopia consists of three ranks： governing philosophy kings with reasoning power， protective soldiers with strong will， and productive workers who only have desires. Anything hinders the governing rationality is ruinous and therefore， dangerous. This strong political orientation leads him to separate the idealized "truth" from the actual reality， and forges his special standard for art in the perspective of politics.

Meanwhile， Aristotle inherits from Plato that the cosmos is rationally designed and that philosophers can grasp the absolute truths by studying universal forms. Their ideas diverge， however， in that Aristotle thought one finds the universal in particular， while Plato believed the universal exists apart from the particular， and that material things are only a shadow of true reality， which exists in the realm of ideas and forms. （Yao， 25） The fundamental difference mentioned above is the major breakthrough made by Aristotle， which also reflects in his view of imitation， i.e.， imitation is rooted in human nature， and has terminal value for its creativity. Obviously， Aristotle tends to judge imitation for its own sake， under detailed empirical investigation.

Generally speaking， Aristotle agrees with Platos idea of imitation， but is more objective and comprehensive. As art， especially literature is the major topic in Platos and Aristotles discussion about imitation， their opinions on art reflects their distinguished theory of imitation. In regard to the nature of art， Aristotle agrees with Plato that art is imitation. Platos allegory of three beds illustrates that art only reproduces image， which is thrice removed from the truth. “The imitator or maker of the image knows nothing， we have said， of true existence； he knows appearances only.”（Yao，14）Though more affirmative in The Poetics， Aristotle admits that “Epic poetry and Tragedy， Comedy also and Dithyrambic poetry， and the music of the flute and the lyre in most of their forms， are all in general conception modes of imitation.”（Yao， 29）Aristotle further analyses different imitative works in three main areas—the medium， the objects and the manner. Based on the definition that “objects of imitation are men in action”（Yao，30），Aristotle distinguishes tragedy from comedy. This idea can be traced back to Platos Republic that “imitation imitates the action of men， whether voluntary or involuntary， on which， as they imagine， a good or bad result has ensued， and they rejoice or sorrow accordingly.”（Yao， 17）endprint

The most outstanding development put forward by Aristotle is the instinctive property of imitation. In Ion， Plato explains the origin of imitation as the inspiration from God. “For all good poets， epic as well as lyric， compose their beautiful poems not by art， but because they are inspired and possessed.”（Plato，11）Aristotle admits the “strain of madness”（Yao， 46）helps to create art， but declares “the instinct of imitation is implanted in man from childhood”and“through imitation （man） learns the earliest lessons”， which“give the liveliest pleasure not only to philosophers but to man in general； whose capacity， however， of learning is more limited.”（Yao， 31）Still Aristotle acknowledges the limited learning capacity of the common people， yet argues that everyone can learn about the reality and gains pleasure through imitation. This audacious idea breaks through Platos theory of imitation， in which imitation has nothing to do with human nature， but is inspired by God instead and only limited to some people.

Furthermore， Plato considers imitation as the inferior degree of truth， which awakens and nourishes the inferior part of soul， and by strengthening it impairs the reason. Therefore，“the imitative poet implants an evil constitution， for him indulges the irrational nature”（Yao， 19）： imitation which is lifelike is even more dangerous. Aristotle admits that fundamentally， art is imitation， yet in another sense， he sees its independent value of creation. In The Poetics he advocates the law of probability or necessity as the main difference between literature and historical records， and encourages fictitious creation to manageable extent. According to Aristotle，“while reproducing the distinctive form of the original， （artist） makes a likeness which is true to life and yet more beautiful.”（Yao， 44）Absurdity or irrational elements can be veiled by the poetic charm. In the crafting of words and plot， literary imitation has its terminal value as an independent discipline. Plato worries about the irrational effects， Aristotle instead allows for probable impossibilities in imitation. Aristotles idea to create lifelike reality through imitation lays the foundation for Realism.

Moreover， Aristotle points out that“the standard of correctness is not the same in poetry and politics， and more in poetry and any other art.”（Yao， 57）The artist can imitate three objects—things as they were or are， things as they are said or thought to be， or things as they ought to be. This argument refutes Platos accusation about poets impractical function in ruling the country or researching. Whats more， in the principle of imitation Aristotle does agree with Plato that（下轉第64頁）（上接第103頁）“unseemliness”（Yao，20）does harm to art， and he further classifies literature into six main elements to illustrates the concept of organic unity. Excellent literature should omit the elements which bears no necessary or probable connection to the main plot. On the other hand， even when some irrational elements appear in the composition， imitation has to remain consistently inconsistent to protect the overall unity. From Platos implied idea of cohesion， Aristotle starts into motion the imitation concept of organic unity.endprint

According to Whitehead， the history of philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato. However， Aristotles inheritance and development is indispensable for the theory of Plato to live up to the reputation. They both take the theory of imitation as the basis for art analysis. （Cao， 185） For Plato， imitation is just the shadow of the reality， therefore cannot acquire the perfect beauty and truth of the forms； while Aristotle take imitation originates from the true life， yet more beautiful. Aristotle inherits and develops Platos theory of imitation， foreshadowing materialism and modern psychology， and laying the foundation for realistic literary criticism. In conclusion， Platos and Aristotles theory of imitation make great contribution in the field of art and science. They are the author and at the same time， "the theme of encomiums" （Yao， 12）.

【Reference】

[1]曹淑蕾.“試論柏拉圖與亞里士多德的‘模仿說”，青年文學家，2009（5）.

[2]姚乃強編.《西方經典文論選讀》，上海：上海外語教育出版社，2003.

[3]Plato，Selected Dialogues of Plato：The Benjamin Jowett Translation，Modern Library，2001.endprint