Platão e Aristóteles: diferentes sentidos da imitação na arte

Abstract

Long before aesthetics was consolidated in the 18th century as a philosophical field that examines beauty and art, art was already being analyzed by philosophers. In ancient times, Plato's and Aristotle's writings on the subject stand out. In this article, we examine the different meanings of artistic imitation in Platonic and Aristotelian philosophies. In Platonic reflections on art, imitation is related to the negative aspects of the soul, distancing human beings from knowledge and a morally appropriate life. Aristotle, on the other hand, defends the imitation of art as an activity that follows the rules of nature and contributes to the knowledge and education of human beings. In our exposition, we will present, respectively, Plato's and Aristotle's considerations about the imitative content of art, trying to identify the different explanations of these philosophers about artistic imitation.