You'd think that a philosopher like Plato would admire literary art, but he really criticized it, along with other types of what he called mimesis. Plato, as a moralist, despises poetry because it is immoral. He disapproves of it as a philosopher since it is built on lie. Plato attacked literary art in three books of his works: The "Ion" (c. 428 B.C.), The "Cratylus" (408 B.C.) and The "Poetics" (391 B.C.). In these texts, he argues against the existence of poetry and its role in society. He believes that poets are the enemies of philosophy because they offer an alternative way of thinking about reality that avoids discussing abstract ideas such as truth, goodness and beauty. Instead, they focus on describing how things appear to us through the eyes of someone who experiences life directly, which is why poems are usually made up of words and phrases related to love and hate, joy and sadness. This type of language is useful for arousing feelings in our listeners or readers, which is why poets are important people in society. However, Plato argues that this form of art is completely different from philosophy. For him, there are two ways we can understand reality: either by analyzing it or by experiencing it directly.