Censorship

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Recommended: Book I of Plato’s Republic

Censorship Starting in book 2 from 376d and on into book 3 of The Republic, Socrates and Adeimantus discuss the type of education the young guardians, the future rulers and protectors of the city should receive. They feel that the young men should be strong, quick, courageous and educated. They agree that they should receive a physical education for their bodies and an education in music and poetry for their souls. Unlike physical training, an education in music and poetry can begin at a very young age, at the age when most young people are very impressionable. Socrates feels that “the young are incapable of judging what is allegory and what is not, and the opinions they form at that age tend to be ineradicable and unchangeable.”(378d) Socrates feels that it is of the highest importance that the first stories young men should hear are improving stories, ones which contribute to the betterment of the individual’s mind and soul. The stories should give an idea of how they should live their lives and the types of values they should acquire. They should communicate values like fairness in their dealing with others and respect for the family and the community. The unifying principle behind Socrates’ censorship is this: anything that would contribute to the corruption of the minds of young children or that would give them false values, whether it be true or false, should be censored. Socrates speaks of two types of stories that can be told to young people, ones that are true and ones that are false. (389b) By this he means those that speak of actual events and those that are the product of an individual’s imagination. When taken as strictly for reading enjoyment, neither is better than the other is. This differentiation does not come about until the story is allowed to affect or shape the values of the person hearing them. A false story can improve someone if the moral that it conveys teaches a valuable lesson about life and if that moral will instill values that would help to teach that person to be just, fair and honest. The converse is also true. A true story could harm someone if the moral that it conveys does not instill beliefs or values that would serve to better a person. Literature that encourages wrong doing produces a “totally casual attitude towards wickedness.

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