Plato first brought it up circa 2400 years ago, and it’s something that our society is still dealing with today: Censorship of music. In the “Republic” Plato discusses how music and poetry must be changed in order to make the youth’s better people with better souls. In today’s society there remain people, communities, and organizations that attempt, and somewhat succeed, in censoring music for different reasons. Whether it is lyrical content, graphic nature, or the underlying message of the song, musicians and their songs are being punished across our country. Plato and the music censors have many of their ideals in common.
Plato believes that “…a G-d, who is himself good, is the cause of bad things, we’ll fight that in every way, and we won’t allow anyone to say it in his own city…” (Republic 194). This is one of Plato’s rules because a G-d is good, and a G-d wouldn’t do bad things. So to say that a G-d does bad things would be bad for a child to hear because they would excuse themselves from bad things that they may do with the reasoning that if a G-d can do something bad, why cant I? This rule is understandable and reasonable for the citizens of Plato’s new city to have to obey. This new rule would have a profound effect on the poetry and music that was already in place, and put restrictions on what would be allowed into the city. For instance, Poteus or Thetis could no longer say “The G-ds, in the likeness of strangers from foreign lands, Adopt every sort of shape and visit our cities” (Republic 195). “… a G-d and what belongs to him are in every way in the best condition…” “… a G-d would be least likely to have many shapes” (Republic 195). Due to this reasoning, there could be no reference to a G-d being something less then what it actually is. A song in today’s modern time that would not be allowed by Plato’s rule would be the song by Joan Osborne, “What if G-d Was One Of Us? (Just a Slob Like One of Us).”
Plato’s rule not to make mention of anything...