The Department of Philosophy at the College of Arts, University of Basrah organized a seminar on criticizing Plato’s theory of artistic inspiration.

The seminar in which the lect. Dr. Naba Abdel Sattar Jaber lectured, focused on shedding light on the criticism directed at Plato’s theory of artistic inspiration.

The seminar touched on the most important theories that attempted to criticize this theory, including:

1- Mental theory.

2- Social theory.

3- Psychological theory.

The seminar aims to explain that the theory of artistic inspiration describes a state of coma, mystic existence, or divine ecstasy, and cannot reveal the truth or nature of the artistic creation process in front of people who talk about the effect of a hidden power or drift into hidden visions and imaginations, at the same time that the process of artistic creativity needs to be organized, directed and be able to govern, as we find the owners of this theory speak of surrender to imaginations and dreams that lead the artwork from beginning to end, and the link between dreams and imaginations is made of reason. Those who neglected the theory of inspiration also neglected the issue of performance or implementation with the importance of this issue for the utmost in the completion of the artwork so that this is a great defect in their theory, as the owners went to the fact that the artist does not control his will in moments of inspiration or genius, and this is what makes him a person of will, in the sense that the artist is an artist at a certain time rather than other times, he is an artist when he falls under the influence of hidden forces.

Likewise, the owners of this theory distinguish the artist as a talented person who is unique from other people, as if he is a divine creature descended from the sky, and this does not correspond with the perception of an artist who is deprived of the will, unconscious, merely susceptible to inspiration or mediator between God and humans.