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In Praise of Plato's Poetic Imagination
Plato has often been read as denigrating the cognitive and ethical value of poetry. In his dialogues, the faculty that corresponds to the poeticthe imaginationis located at the lowest level of human intelligence, and so it is furthest from true understanding. Simultaneously, the Platonic dialogues violate Platos own alleged prohibitions against quoting and imitating poets, and much of the writing in the dialogues is poetic. All too often, the voluminous literature on Plato dismisses Platos poetic formulations as merely the unintended contradictions of an otherwise meticulous author. Read more