Essay on Plato's Republic

1 Pages 265 Words

ESSAY FOR THE SELECTIONS FROM BOOK II OF PLATO’S REPUBLIC

I think that Plato believed history had little significance. Although he was one of the Greek’s greatest political figures, I do not agree with his point of view. His form of censorship leads to the falsification of history.
In Plato’s Republic, Plato talked about censorship. He wanted to change or remove lines from poems that made the gods look petty and cruel, and he would not allow stories that made the gods seem evil to be told in his city. He wanted to take these actions to keep the children and citizens of the city thinking that the gods would not do anyone any harm. His doctrine might sound good, but the censorship of literature leads to another kind of censorship, the alteration of history. Censorship seems to be on the rise again, in our period in history. Modern censorship is in the form of extreme “political correctness.” Some history books I’ve seen sugarcoat the truth in the name of political correctness. These books made huge massacres and battles involving several countries sound like little skirmishes between a couple of ‘people.’ We can not use the term ‘men,’ because the history books must to be ‘politically correct’ these days. Some people believe that the term ‘men’ does not include the female portion of the human race. I strongly disagree with Plato’s doctrine regarding the treatment of history. Following his advice would hide the real facts behind historic events and could change their real significance....