Abstract: (6410 Views)
The banishment of poets from Plato’s Republic in order to reach at a society free from irresponsibility is the first step in the Western speculative philosophy to criticize poetry. From a Platonic point of view, irresponsible, irrational writing, of which poetry, due to its inspirational nature, is an outstanding realization, puts the ideal Greek society in disorder and thus should be avoided; philosophically speculative writing, which arises from rationality and truth-orientated thinking, should replace it. Although it is almost impossible to examine the credibility of such judgments, they have been raised in different guises throughout history to explain crises in human societies. With a special attention to the modern era, this paper argues that due to the shortcomings in the Western “philosophical discourse,” Western philosophical writings seem to be really dangerous and the cause of political and social crises. Conversely, writings arising from a “literary discourse” might turn out to be more responsible.
Received: 2010/10/6 | Accepted: 2010/11/20 | Published: 2010/11/20