Plato once said, "music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything".1 Plato was not mistaken when examining the importance of music and its effect on life. It is through the publication of the Republic that he expresses the viewpoints of Socrates and his thoughts on the influence of music to the world. This analysis will argue that music does not necessarily have a strong effect on human development, and subsequently, a state should not enforce censorship on its citizens. Plato's argument depicts no clear evidence of influential factors that music may have on individuals. Additionally, he and Aristotle voice many theories and ideas that contradict their views on musical censorship, which thus weakens their overall arguments. .
According to Plato, early childhood matters the most for moral development. Since children do not yet the posses reason, he believes music is necessary for condition as rhythm and harmony penetrate the soul deeply, it tunes the mind. Education is key for early childhood and using the means of music begins with the telling of tales in a child's earliest years as they innocently accept all new knowledge. It is for that which Plato claims tales must strictly be censored, for kids absorb all information to which they are exposed. "The young can't distinguish what is allegorical from what isn't, and the opinions they absorb at that age are hard to erase and apt to become unalterable". 2 Plato explains that their understanding of events become unchangeable as they are shaped from a young age, as he states that "we'll persuade nurses and mothers to tell their children the [stories] we have selected, since they will shape their children's souls with stories" (Republic 377b). In essence, the allegory of the cave is equivalent to the conditioning used in a state that would be exposed to censorship.
