Essay Sun, Concept of God According to Aristotle & Plato Attack on Poetry
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Sun
Sun is a crucial reason for our existence. Without the Sun there would be no existence of life on Earth as it is responsible for the process of photosynthesis and generating oxygen with the help of plants. It gives us energy directly as well as indirectly in many forms such as heat and light, solar energy, oxygen, etc.
The Sun is a powerful star. It holds a very important position in our solar system. Earth and other planets revolve around it. They revolve only because of Sun's position and the gravitational pull of the Sun keeps all of them in their elliptical orbit.
The Sun is the nearest star to the Earth. Its light takes about 8 minutes to reach the Earth as it is 150 x 1,00,000 kilometers away from the Earth. Sunlight travels at the speed of 3,00,000 kilometers per second. The Sun and sunlight are very crucial for us as we can imagine only a cold and dark Earth without it.
This big ball of fire holds temperature which is unbearable for any life form. It has a temperature of about 6000 degrees Celsius on its surface and the temperature at its center is about 20 million degrees celsius. It is not a solid body. It consists mostly of hydrogen gas.
We should be grateful for this asset we have. It has given us so many resources to live our lives. But we cannot enjoy its benefits forever as research and findings predict that this star will die in 5 billion years and Earth will also no longer exist due to its dependence on Sun for its survival.
Concept of God According to Aristotle
He is not the Creator
The concept of God is a little bit weird as suggested by Aristotle. According to Aristotle, God is not the Creator of the universe but the One who causes it to move.
This is so because a creator is a dreamy person and a dreamer is always a dissatisfied one or an unhappy man who is questing for happiness or in simple words an imperfect being who desires to seek perfection.
He is the Mover
Except for the God every other source of motion in the world, whether it may be a person or a thing or a thought, is, according to Aristotle, a "moved mover".
Thus a car runs on the road, the man runs the car, the brain moves the hands, the desire to travel moves the brain, the instinct to reach the destination moves the desire.
The master of every slave is the slave of some other master. However, God is not the slave of anything or anybody. He is the master of all the masters and the source of all the actions and emotions.
His behavior towards the World
According to Aristotle, God is not interested in the world and the worldly things, however, the world is interested in God. The reason is that one seeks interest in someone when he lacks something that the other owns.
Hence it is the imperfection that makes one take interest in others in general and in God in particular. However, God being passionless, emotionless and perfect moves the world without taking an interest in it.
Conclusion
Thus Aristotelian God, who is loved by all and is indifferent to the fate of the people of the world, is a cold, impersonal and perfectly unsatisfactory type of Supreme Being (in the modern context). He resembles the Primal Energy of scientists rather than the Heavenly Father of the poet.
Plato Attack on Poetry
Introduction
During the time of Plato Gods and Heroes were represented in an unfavorable light. Hence they were subjected to severe criticism by the philosophers and educationists. Thus poets were considered to be inferior to the philosophers and orators.
Plato’s Attack on Poetry
Plato being much aware of these things and being profoundly influenced was not in favor of poetry at all. His attack on poetry can be explained by dividing it into three categories:
- Morals Grounds
- Emotional Grounds
- Intellectual Grounds
Moral Grounds
- According to Plato poetry does not contribute to the social morality as the poet narrates the tales of the pleasant vices of the man.
- As Gods and great heroes were represented as corrupt, hence for Plato their admiration by the poets could corrupt the young minds.
- The poets are "divinely inspired" and thus their literature is quite non-rational. They give free play to their thoughts. Thus the poets, their emotional frenzies and the lack of moral restraint can afford no safe guidance moral or intellectual.
- Poetry makes the reader imitate the characters in the story. Thus one who imitates a female part tends to grow effeminate.
Emotional Grounds
Intellectual Grounds
Plato has criticized poetry on intellectual grounds as well. The poets are ignorant of cognition of truth as they imitate the appearance and not the reality. Thus poetry cannot be considered to be the valid source of knowledge.
Plato attacks poetry on moral, emotional and intellectual grounds and thus throws light on its uselessness and its corrupt influences.
His point of view is entirely utilitarian. In the ideal state of Plato, "no poetry should be admitted save hymns to the gods and oration on famous men".
