Dr. Ellie Anderson, philosophy professor and cohost of Overthink podcast, explains why Socrates argues for banishing poets and other imitative artists from the ideal city in Book X of Plato's Republic. How does this view relate to Plato's view of the soul and to televisionwatching today? Textbook is Aesthetics: A Comprehensive Anthology reader, ed. Cahn and Meskin (Blackwell, 2008).

This video is part of a series introducing philosophers' views of art and aesthetics.

For more from Dr. Anderson, check out Overthink on YouTube, or listen to our conversational podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We've got numerous audio podcast episodes on the philosophy of art!