The question of wether it is "Better to Plant a Cabbage than a Rose" raises an important philosophical issue concerning the necessity of art in our society. Should tax payer's money be used to fund the creative arts such as theatre, litterateur and painting or instead should it be spent on services like Medicare, The Dole and Education receive more money and be deemed more importance? We can no doubt see that services such as Medicare, The Dole and education are necessary in our society. Much like the cabbage their use is one of utter practicality, they assist us in core elements of our lives. The cabbage cures us when we are sick, it gives us money when we are jobless and it educates us when we are ignorant. In Plato's Republic Plato insists that in his Utopia there would be no need for the arts. So why do we continue to fund the arts and what is the virtue of planting the rose? But is the rose useless as Plato demands or is there a need for it in this world. .
The rose is just as necessary in this society as the cabbage. The rose can many times help the cabbage to prosper through its beauty and because of that is essential. Sometimes the beauty of the rose can be used for malevolent purposes. However, the cathartic healing that the rose creates is fundamental. .
Many times the rose can be used to assist the cabbage. Visual aids, a form of art, offer a teacher a unique tool to educate her class. This is due to the fact that pictures, in many cases, can demonstrate something far better than a written essay or a verbal explanation may be able to. Art is able to encapsulate the emotion of a situation like nothing else can. Where a written account may only explain the objective facts of the particular situation, a work of art is able to place you inside the situation and the circumstances. A work of art doesn't bombard you with tedious facts but rather transports you to the time and place and allows you to feel the emotions and make your own judgments.