Socrates

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Socrates believes that the everyday world is an illusion compared to the world of knowledge. People are often too distracted by money and materialistic things to appreciate truth and reality. Socrates says, “the capacity for knowledge is innate in each man’s mind.” This exemplifies the point that man has the ability to look into the world of truth, but when one is caught up in superficiality then truth does not receive the attention and glory that it should. This is why Socrates feels that the arts, such as poetry, should be censored; it would help decrease the digression of society’s intellect.

In today’s world television and movies are complications that only hinder the thought processes in society.When people are consumed in the shallow world, they see reality as mere shadows compared to truth. Many times, violent images seen in movies will remain in a person’s mind. This obsession with violence and action takes away from concentration on “the good” and does not benefit society. “The bad” does not change when one is exposed to it, “the bad” changes the person. So, by limiting this exposure to violence one can focus on finding “the good.” “The good”, according to Socrates is “the source not only of the intelligibility of the objects of knowledge, but also of their being and reality.” When the mind is preoccupied with the desultory world, it does not see truth; that which is important and real. Television today is geared towards brainless viewing.

MTV shows display fast images that do not require any thinking, but only keep the eye entertained. This is a form of “eye candy” which is society’s form of entertainment, rather than looking for the meaning of life and the good in the world. Viewers are sucked into this and no longer care about anything other than instant pleasure. Not all pleasure is considered good, and this type of instant pleasure is not. Pleasure should not be taken to the extreme, because it will then be unhealthy for the mind and the body.

Socrates explains that the mind, body, and soul must all be in unison in order to be healthy, then happiness will ensue. Moderation is a key element to contentment and should be practiced in today’s society. Many people search for happiness by engulfing themselves in life’s highest pleasures, others look for contentment by over-working themselves to try and be the richest. However, these extremes w...

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...tural, which is found in everyday occurrences. Society is changing everyday and movies are becoming more and more violent, as well as the crimes that occur today.

The outlook on happiness is transforming to an extreme emphasis on money, and instant pleasure is becoming the one importance in life. Values are being demoralized and negative influences are being idolized. This is all done by the arts, because it is the one thing that is never definite or exact. Other aspects of life are definite, such as mathematical solutions and so forth. However, the arts are never definite because they come from the creative aspect of man.

It is not absolute and can be interpreted in many different ways. However, by exposing society to the good in life, or assisting in exhibiting the real and unmasking true reality, the arts will display this and censorship will no longer be needed. It can only happen in a perfect society because man’s thoughts cannot be controlled, and although man is a product of society, there will always be exceptions to the rule. So, censorship will always be needed in today’s world because true reality can only be seen with a lucid mind and unison with the body and soul.

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