At some point and time every college student will face the task of taking a philosophy class and within that class will most likely find themselves comparing the views of the ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato. As both men knew each other and in fact, Plato was the teacher of Aristotle it's always interesting to see how the thoughts of the student differ from the views of their teacher. Both men are equally matched to compare as both critically studied the matters of science, politics, ethics, and art over their respective life times. While Plato’s works have been documented and keep in style as they have been copied for centuries. It can be argued that Aristotle’s work has had the greater influence in the worlds of politics, ethics, and art. But could that be true? Are the two men so different in the worlds of politics, ethics, and art?
Though the first contrast truly comes in what is considered their noble ideas. While Plato is known for Platonic Idealism, Platonic Realism, and Theory of Forms. While Aristotle is known for The Golden Mean, Reason, Logic, Biology, and Passion. This is not too big of a surprise as most accounts of their interests show that the two men valued for the most part different things. While Aristotle’s reported interests included things like metaphysics, science, logic, and ethics. Plato is reported to have cared more for literature, justice, rhetoric, art, education, family and militarism. With the only main interest that the two men
Aristotle and St. Augustine have both been influenced by Plato. Their philosophy on morality, politics, and the purpose of life has been platonically influenced. St. Augustine is the true heir of Plato because he has taken Plato’s ideal state, and revealed the implications of the lives that the citizens of the earthly city lead, in the City of God. Plato’s state is an ideal state, that would not function in reality. St. Augustine has taken Plato’s notions, and have furthered the implications of living a life that strives towards a common good. The consequences, whether negative or positive, cannot be seen in the earthly state, but can be seen in the City of God.
The similarities between these two are most evident in their desire for freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted freedom from segregation and Plato wanted freedom from ignorance. They both wanted justice, and knew that it was immoral to take deny another being justice. For example, Plato has said,
Aristotle argues that in order for a polis to emerge, a union between man and women must convene. Later a household must be introduced which unites with other households to form a village, villages come together to form city-states. This theory is Aristotle’s natural view that an individual can not be self sufficient Plato argues that, in order to achieve absolute justice, a city-state is needed.
Both men lived in 4th century BCE Athens, so much of their background and experience was shared. Aristotle was the younger of the two, and he was Plato’s student. Where leadership is concerned, both philosophers agreed that the
Excellence is a function which renders excellent the thing of which it is a function is Plato’s definition of virtue. What does this definition really mean though? Plato and Aristotle both had their own unique arguments devoted to the topic at hand, and their own ways of describing what virtue really is. Defining virtue may seem to be an easy taste, but to truly understand the arguments behind the definition can prove to be very challenging.
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.
In ancient Greece two great written philosophers lived. First there was Plato and then Aristotle. Aristotle was a pupil of Plato. Despite being taught by Plato they had different theories and views. Their ethics were very typical and traditional of ancient Greece but Aristotle detailed virtue ethics and the path to happiness. Plato’s political theories for a utopian society varied from Aristotle’s view of ‘best state for each society’. Their metaphysical theories are complete opposites and very contradicting. Even though Plato and Aristotle came from the same era and were closely linked they had very different philosophies.
Aristotle and Plato are two of the most influential philosophers in history. Plato was Socrates’ greatest student and in turn taught Aristotle. In time, Aristotle became Plato’s greatest student. Together Aristotle and Plato, along with Socrates, laid the groundwork for what we now know as Western philosophy and science.
Plato and Aristotle are two rhetoricians than had a great impact on the history of rhetoric. Although they were similar in many ways, their use and definition of rhetoric were different. Plato had the more classical approach where he used rhetoric as a means of education to pass down his beliefs and practice of rhetoric to his students. He believed that it should be used to educate the masses, provoking thought, and thereby preserving that knowledge. Plato thought that rhetoric should be used to convey truth, truths already known to the audience, revealed through that dialectic critical thought. Plato also operated on absolute truths, things that are right or wrong, black or white. Aristotle was more modern in that he used rhetoric as a
Plato and Aristotle are philosophers that both have an idea of an ideal state but they have their differences. While there are benefits to each of their views on politics and society, there are also many negative things about their views. Some of their negative views were realistic at one point in time but few are the same in today 's society. Although I don 't fully agree with either philosopher, I would have to side with Aristotle overall.
In the various discussions of imitative art there has been a notable disagreement between two distinguished philosophers; Plato and Aristotle. Although it was Plato who first discussed the concept of imitative art, it is my belief that Aristotle was justified in his praise and admiration of imitative art, specifically, the tragic drama. In my discussion on the two philosophers’ dissertations I will begin with the ideas of Plato and his position and requirements for imitative art and its respected uses, after which I will discuss the ideas of Aristotle to show that the tragic
One thing they have in common is discontent for democracy. They believe that there are those who should assume authority over others. Also, the topics in their works cover some of the same ideas such as love, the body, and the idea of the soul. When it comes to the soul Nietzsche says, “Ten times a day you must overcome yourself: that makes you good and tired and is opium for the soul.” On the other hand Plato states, “For he makes his homes in the characters, in the souls, of gods of men - and not even every soul that comes along: when he encounters a soul with a harsh character, he turns away; but when he finds a soft and gentle character, he settles down into it.” Both men acknowledge the existence of the soul and that finding one that is pure a high regard. They also both believe that in order to make your soul pure you must overcome challenges and struggles in your life. Another similarity between Plato and Nietzsche is that they view the principle of truth in an ethical manner. There is truth in the judgements of people to guide us to experience better health and life. They both also feel there is tension behind the human endeavor to find truth. There is a constant strife and questioning of nature that leads to the outcome of the good life. They both believe in the idea of pain and pleasure existing together and creates an ultimate experience for human existence. Nietzsche and Plato also have some differences in their thinking. It is important to note that Plato’s philosophical contributions influenced Western philosophy and Nietzsche was a hard critic of Western philosophy ideals. Plato believes that death was the ultimate freedom of a life that made sense and death was ultimately a way for us to learn about the truth of nonsensical principles of life. Plato emphasizes life of being simple and reaching enlightenment in an
Plato and Aristotle, arguably the most important philosophers of their time, both made attempts to define justice. Being that Aristotle was a student of Plato, their ideas share many similarities. Both viewed justice as the harmonious interaction of people in a society. However, Plato defined his ideal of justice with more usage of metaphysics, invoking his Form of the Good, while Aristotle took a more practical approach, speaking in terms of money and balance. Although Aristotle's ideal of justice may seem superior, upon further inspection, Plato's ideal of justice is the stronger.
Plato was among the most important and creative thinkers of the ancient world. He was born in Athens in 428 BC to an aristocratic and well-off family. Even as a young child Plato was familiar with political life because his father, Ariston was the last king of Athens. Ariston died when Plato was a young boy. However, the excessive Athenian political life, which was under the oligarchical rule of the Thirty Tyrants and the restored democracy, seem to have forced him to give up any ambitions of political life. In 388 BC he journeyed to Italy and Sicily, where he became the friend of Dionysius the ruler of Syracuse, and his brother-in-law Dion. The following year he returned to Athens, where he devoted his
Aristotle and Plato were philosophers in ancient Greece who searchingly studied matters of ethics, science, politics, and more. Though many more of Plato's works survived throughout the centuries, Aristotle's contributions have arguably been more influential, particularly when it comes to science and logical reasoning. While both philosophers' works are considered less theoretically valuable in modern times, they continue to have great historical value.