Similarities Of Plato And Aristotle

It is basic human nature to question the reasoning behind a belief. From the beginning of our existence, many philosophers have found ways to question and gain understanding regarding these beliefs. These philosophers took positions on life, religion, ethics, nature, politics, love, logic, and many other topics. Two of the most famous philosophers, known today, that we base some of our beliefs from are Plato and Aristotle. These ancient philosophers, although they differ in many theories, they are also similar in a few ways as well. This essay will compare and contrast the philosophies of these two great philosophers.

Aristotle and Plato were both great thinkers but their views on realty were different. Plato viewed realty as taking place in the mind but Aristotle viewed realty is tangible. Even though Aristotle termed reality as concrete, he stated that reality does not make sense or exist until the mind process it. Therefore truth is dependent upon a person’s mind and external factors.

Plato’s allegory of the cave, located in the 2nd edition of Discovering Your Vision and Voice, explains that people experience emotional and intellectual revelations throughout different stages in their lives. In this short story I believe Plato’s goal is to represent the way a philosopher gains knowledge. There are various types of knowledge explored throughout this story like the knowledge that we are told and expected to believe, and the one that is learned through personal experiences.

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is one of the most well-known metaphors in philosophy. This metaphor is meant to illustrate the impact and importance of education on the human soul. Plato describes how it is essential that we conquer the stages of ignorance through education, to lead us to the Ultimate Good or Enlightenment. The scene begins dark as he describes the first stage as

Plato's allegory of the cave analysis Every human being does have their own dwelling, which is just like the 'cave' in Plato's article. For the most part, certainly we all prefer staying in our 'cave', living our normal lives, believing in whatever shows up in our sights daily rather than exploring or questioning about whether those 'shadows' which we have been seeing years by years are the truth or not. Rarely, there is somebody who tries to make questions about what we are seeing as well as searching for new things. In “The allegory of the cave”, Plato illustrates that knowledge gain through the senses is somewhat limited, in order to achieve further and developed knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning.

When Plato wrote “The Cave”, he was talking about how the process of learning philosophy. You are in a cave where you are only shown a fraction of the truth, and you believe it to be true because you have never been shown, or have known, anything different. But then someone comes along and shows you the way to enlightenment, and brings you to a higher level of understanding by showing you that the things you have perceived as real were not real at all, but shadows of the real figures dancing along the walls. You begin to explore the outside world for the first time, absorbing this new found information; but then you think back to the others that are still stuck in the cave. You return to those people to show them this new world and its knowledge, but they do not take you seriously because you have grown unaccustomed to the conditions of the cave, your eyes cannot see well in the dark anymore; and therefore, they do not take you choose to ignore you because you are no longer like them and on their level of understanding. Or perhaps they would get angry with you because you are annoying them with knowledge they do not want, and would possibly want you out of their lives for it. But still you continue to try because that is your obligation to society, to share the knowledge to better everyone for the greater good. The cave has been discussed for the past 2000 years since Plato wrote it in his book “The Republic”. From this allegory, and the book, the philosophers after

In the Greek society, women were seen in different “lights” in different city states. The similarity of Plato and Aristotle ideas about the role of women is men are seen as being superior to that of a female in some extent. Plato and Aristotle have divergent views on the role of women in society but both philosophers agree that men have the potential of better capabilities even though women should have some form of education to an extent. In Plato’s writings, Socrates postulates that the male sex is much superior to the the female sex in most things even though women are better than men in some things, but on the whole the male sex strengths are more recognized by the society (Plato 455 c). Socrates agrees on the point that

Aristotle and Plato had a lot in common. They had similar views because Plato was actually Aristotle’s teacher. Aristotle was sent to Plato’s academy when he was seventeen, and he stayed for 20 years, studying and eventually teaching. Aristotle and Plato both had big influences on each other. Plato’s later writings, “...in which he softened some earlier positions, likely bear the mark of repeated discussions with his most gifted student [Aristotle]” (Aristotle). This means that Plato changed his stance on certain philosophical topics due to the time he spent with Aristotle. They both had a huge influence on each other throughout their lives. Also, both men created their own schools to teach and inspire young students later in their lives. According to World History Patterns of Interaction, Aristotle opened up his own school in Athens called the Lyceum that rivaled the Academy,

Plato and Aristotle who are influential and great Greek philosophers. They both agreed that the life in the world has a meaning and it should not be just a coincidence or accidence. Also, they both asked the same question which is what does it take to be a good person? Another similarity was the good. Both philosophers argued the good as a happiness. Although Aristotle was Plato’s student, they also had different conceptions about moral principles or values dealing with the good and bad and how the good is achieved for the human being and in society. They also created their own ideas on things and different aspect regarding problems and their concerns. In comparison, one of the most obvious differences between Plato and Aristotle was that Plato was more concerned with virtue in action. However, Aristotle was more concerned with giving the exact definition of virtue. In general, Plato was concerned with the theory of building a perfect society while Aristotle was more concerned with deducing methods that could develop the individual already in existence.

Plato and Aristotle are two of the most remembered philosophers of all time. Being master and student, the two have had interesting propinquity yet gradually they came to disagreements amongst their viewpoints. Plato concluded that the highest reality was the forms, or ideas, while Aristotle refuted such concepts, claiming the physical world to be the most real. Rooted in different philosophical origins, the two began to build vast networks of ideals, often having completely different conclusions as to how to accomplish day to day activities in practicality. One of the most important quarrels were the two’s views on justice and its essence.

Whether the situation involves a child and a parent, or a ruler and a peasant, the stipulation of power is in pivotal question. The act of governing another can go from as lenient as free-range disregard to complete dominance. These ranges for imposing control changes the outcome of the allowed contribution in its citizens. Domination over another is never justified, despite Plato’s and Aristotle’s speculations, because it does not allow the fulfillment of the individual on a personal and State level.

Aristotle and Plato are famous for their many works in the philosophical field. Specifically, the Republic by Plato and Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle seem to be their most popular works. In these works they discuss things that are needed to achieve the “good life” both on an individual level and on a societal level. There is some variance between what the two philosophers think can create the “good life.” They explore the concepts of eudaimonia, virtue, and soul with the same end result of happiness for all. Through analysis of each philosophers work, we can see that both Plato’s definition of the “good life” and his method to achieve it is far superior to Aristotle’s. Furthermore, this concept of the “good life” is best supported through democratic form of government.

History isn’t made by statues. Real people make history. When one understands the person represented by the statue, the story of history begins to unfold. Two of the most important thinkers in world history were Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle studied under Plato and learned many lessons from his teacher. An area one can easily see the similarity between Plato and Aristotle is their beliefs on responsibility. Plato lays the groundwork for Aristotle to develop his own theory. The two are not identical, however, Plato’s work made a lasting impression on Aristotle’s work regarding responsibility

The analogy of the divided line that Plato proposed dealt with two sections divided into two more sections. The bottom part of the line can be labeled as what is not, here contains what is of the imagination or copies of the sensible and or images. Moving up the divided line, we then reach the top of the bottom sections, which contains the belief or the sensible. Entering the first part of the top section, what is thought or the scientific forms are encountered. Following that section at the top is knowledge or the form; the top of the line is labeled as what is. Now once someone understands the two extremes of what is and what is not in relation to Plato and his divided line, then it becomes clear why he only allows only specific pieces of art. When it comes to poetry and actual paintings then Plato becomes very unsettle because of the imitations that they posses whether it be a painting of tree or poem that is very relatable. When a painter creates a painting, he or she first uses the imagination to visually create a tree in the mind. Once then when the painting in the mind is actually drawn, it essentially holds no value for it is not the actual tree. A painter can artistically manipulate how a tree actually looks but it still would not be considered good enough art for his Republic. Then someone can get into the genetic and biological make up of the tree in an artistic way, which then will bring it closer to being exhibited in the republic. Now when the tree is

Throughout the history of philosophy, the thoughts and works of two men have intertwined their way into the philosophers to follow. The two men were followers of Socrates; thus, technically, Socrates can take some of the credit. These two men are Plato and Aristotle. The Platonic and Aristotelian ideas of philosophy are contradicting but equally represented in their influence. Plato believed that to find truth, one must look to the metaphysical world beyond reality. He believed this because he thought the physical world was only a mirror of the real world. While, Aristotle believed that truth can only be found when one looks inside himself or herself. In every era of philosophy from the Dark Ages to the Contemporary period, both of their philosophies have in some way influenced the thinkers of that era.