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Imitation, then, is devoid of knowledge, being only a kind of

play or sport, and the tragic and epic poets are imitators in the

highest degree.

And now let us enquire, what is the faculty in man which answers

to imitation. Allow me to explain my meaning: Objects are

differently seen when in the water and when out of the water,

when near and when at a distance; and the painter or juggler

makes use of this variation to impose upon us. And the art of

measuring and weighing and calculating comes in to save our

bewildered minds from the power of appearance; for, as we were

saying, two contrary opinions of the same about the same and at

the same time, cannot both of them be true. But which of them is

true is determined by the art of calculation; and this is allied

to the better faculty in the soul, as the arts of imitation are

to the worse. And the same holds of the ear as well as of the

eye, of poetry as well as painting. The imitation is of actions

voluntary or involuntary, in which there is an expectation of a

good or bad result, and present experience of pleasure and pain.