Irregular Feelings : Mimēsis, Poikilia, and the Emotions in Plato's Republic

Republic. This paper deals with the psychology of poetic mimēsis in Plato's Republic and its consequences for artists and audiences in terms of emotional arousal. Focusing on the conceptual bonds between μίμησις and ποικιλία and the effects they exert on emotions, the Author discusses Plato's ethical concerns about μίμησις from a vantage point that emphasizes the role it plays in structuring human cognition. In doing so, the Author aims to show the way in which aesthetic experience and the emotional engagement it calls forth jeopardize the unity and justice of Plato's wellorganized city and its citizens' harmonious souls by having a uniquely powerful effect on the human ability to learn. [Publisher's text].