The education that Plato prescribes for the guardians in The Republic is a very typical Homeric
education. The boys are taught virtue and strength; they must mimic Homer’s
heroes with their actions. Plato’s education of the boys extends from lessons
in moderation (Book III, 402e) to methods of preparing food through roasting
rather than boiling so that soldiers do not need to carry pots with them (Book
III, 404c). Plato’s comprehensive education teaches boys how to be courageous
soldiers, but his methods make me question the effectiveness and reliability of
his education. The boys are taught their virtuous education in a way that
censors stories containing lack of virtue because “they sow a strong proclivity
for badness in our young” (Book III, 392a). Plato suggests removing stories
that incite fear of death and contain comedy, lying, and excess of food,
alcohol, or sex. This method of education simply implies that these things
don’t exist, rather than teaching them to control their fears and worldly
desires. I think that it is important to provide good examples of virtue in
stories and behavior exhibited by instructors and societal figures, but
mistakes and bad behavior can be effective teaching tools as examples of how not to act. For example, stories about
consuming excess food and alcohol may represent immoral actions, but they can
easily be used as teaching tools considering the adverse effects of gluttony on
physical and mental health. It’s important that guardians maintain physical strength
and sharp wit, so showing the effects of this abuse could be very beneficial
for their education. Children can learn from the good and the bad; even
Augustus advocated the value of Pagan texts as teaching tools in his Christian
education.
Unfortunately, the fear of children learning through bad
stories continues to cause censorship that is seen throughout schools and
libraries as banning books. Of course, I do not think that some books should
not be available to children. Think Fifty
Shades of Grey, which comes in at number 2 in the American Library
Association’s “Top ten frequently challenged books of 2015” list. However, some
of the books that are banned seem to take the fear of imitation a little too
far for me. One of the most commonly known banned books is the Harry Potter series, which many fear
advocates for Satanism. This reasoning was also used to ban Bridge to Terabithia. I loved both of
these books as a child, and for somebody to think that they would lead children
to worship Satan is ludicrous. I feel
sorry for the children that aren’t allowed to experience these stories. In
addition, many of the classics have been removed from schools and libraries do
not feel like they are appropriate for younger readers. While I do not think
that some may be appropriate for elementary or early middle schoolers, books
like Brave New World, 1984, One Flew Over
the Cuckoo’s Nest, and The Great
Gatsby are not books that are going to taint the minds of adolescents
today. To ban these titles that contain some graphic and/or immoral behavior
essentially implies that adolescents today will not be able to go out and function
among the immoral behavior that they will encounter in their daily lives.
It’s pretty interesting to take a look at these lists of
banned books published by the ALA:
By year (2001-2015): http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
Commonly challenged classics: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics
I wonder here if we are not more platonic than we might admit. Yes, we can all agree that some amount of freedom to consume difficult material is good, but don't we also agree that it shouldn't really be that much? I guess I don't really believe that all the endless superhero movies should be censored, but I wouldn't be all that upset about an attempt to say, impose new taxes on the hollywood blockbuster, or take steps to make them harder to make. Plato might be advocating for censorship in part because of the proliferation of these works, and the sense that they might inevitably fall into the hands of some. Maybe we don't agree with outright censorship, but we do think that we should keep the right kinds of works in the hands of the impressionable on the whole, and we'd prefer that the impressionable avoid these works until they are ready for them. There was a saying that only the KGB took literature seriously because they truly believed in its power to influence people for the worse and spread actual ideas.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dr. Herron that we should be able to challenge ourselves with difficult or different readings, but as well I understand the need to censor certain material. The unfortunate thing is that I think we choose to censor the wrong kinds of books. For instance I know in my states throughout the US science books are edited so that they conform with Creationism. There definitely needs to be more freedom with what books and other material we choose to read or view, but then again how much freedom do we really want?
ReplyDeleteI find there to be an interesting parallel between the censorship in Platonic society and the censorship in modern, present-day society. I'm least interested in a parallel with the American society; however, I'm most intrigued with that of Turkish society. In Turkey, government officials attempted to arrest a woman who was allowing a certain text to be sold at her store. Essentially, within the text there are references to Fetullah Gulen--the orchestrator of a movement for peace and liberalism (he is greatly shunned by Turkish government)--and this text is contradictory to Turkish prinicples and values. To sell and distribute this text is believed to be a clear indication of agreement with the text; therefore, those in charge of its distribution must be stopped, and moreover, punished. In Turkey, illiberalism is at an all time high--their current state, in actuality, makes me thankful of the state in which we live. Although censorship in the U.S. can be a bit absurd at times, it is most definitely not as bad as it could be. In areas like Turkey and other illiberal states, the infiltration of diverse information and beliefs are strictly prohibited; however, in America, we can go to a bookstore and find umpteen editions of Islamic texts, Buddhists texts, and Atheistic texts. This shows how liberal we really are compared to other areas in the world.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the parallel between censorship in present-day societies, and in Platonic society is interesting. There's a fine line to walk when choosing what to censor. I believe it's important that we have access to diverse reading material full of different beliefs and ideas, but I also understand the need to sometimes censor that information. I agree that censorship sometimes may be more related to ensuring that those who are most impressionable don't have access too soon to works that they are not yet ready for. It is interesting, comparing the U.S. to other parts of the world, in many ways we are less censored than others and far more fortunate in that sort of freedom.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that books should not be censored because this heightens a students curiosity. Kids naturally do the opposite of what is told of them. If a book is banned, they will wonder why and inevitably they will end up reading the book anyway. I believe it is a parent's job to monitor and control what their reads, not the teachers. After doing some further research about the banning of Harry Potter books at certain schools, I can see where some schools are right in their action. Saint Mary's Island Church of England school banned the Harry Potter series because they believed that the Bible is very clear and consistent in its teachings that wizards, devils and demons exist and are very real, powerful and dangerous and God's people are told to have nothing to do with them. They think it confuses children when something wicked is made to look fun. What this schools fails to realize is that Harry Potter is a fantasy, not a true story, and children know the difference between the two. Whether or not there is such a thing as evil magic in real life, it has nothing at all to do with the made-up spells and potions found in the books. They are forgetting that the Story of Harry Potter has a moral that every child and adults should know, community connection is necessary in life.In this story, almost nothing is achieved by a single person alone. Harry, brave and resourceful as he is, could not triumph versus Voldemort alone. He needed help from numerous people. The point I'm trying to make is that even a book deemed to be "satanic" as you said in your post, can have lessons and morals that affect us all in the real world. Inside every book is a lesson waiting to be revealed.
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