Plato and Aristotle are two of the most influential philosophers in history. They have contributed greatly to the world both in the field of philosophy, politics, literature and Science. Socrates was also a very great ancient Greek philosopher and one of the most wisest men in his time. He was famous for the popular quote;
"An unexamined life is not worth living"
Socrates was majorly the teacher of Plato. His teaching were the major foundation upon which Plato's works were built. Plato then became the teacher of Aristotle.... His teachings influenced the works of Aristotle but however, Aristotle became one of the major critics of Plato because he felt that Plato's works were filled with flaws. Despite his criticisms though, Plato's teachings were still one of the basic foundations upon which Aristotle's was built.
Both Plato and Aristotle theories were based on four widely accepted beliefs:
• Knowledge is something that must be real.
• The Knowledge gotten through our five senses is the true knowledge.
• Knowledge must not be dynamic and changing, it must be static and fixed.
• The world experienced via the senses is dynamic and changing
In Philosophy
Plato argued that concepts had a universal form, an ideal form, which leads to his idealistic philosophy. Aristotle believed that universal forms were not necessarily attached to each object or concept, and that each instance of an object or a concept had to be analyzed on its own.
Both Aristotle and Plato believed thoughts were superior to the senses. However, whereas Plato believed the senses could fool a person, Aristotle stated that the senses were needed in order to properly determine reality.
An example of this difference is the allegory of the cave, created by Plato. To him, the world was like a cave, and a person would only see shadows cast from the outside light, so the only reality would be thoughts. To the Aristotelian method, the obvious solution is to walk out of the cave and experience what is casting light and shadows directly, rather than relying solely on indirect or internal experiences.
In Ethics and values
Plato believed that
knowledge is virtue, in it self and of itself. This simply implies that to know
the good is to do the good, i.e., that knowing the right automatically guarantee you to do the right thing; this implied that
virtue could be taught by teaching someone right from wrong, good from
evil. Aristotle stated that knowing the right thing was not enough, one still need to act according to the way he or she have chosen. You may know what is good and decide not do it....everything boils down to decision.
In Science
Plato's contributes as well to science. He wrote works about mathematics, geometry, and physics, but his work was more exploratory in concept than in reality. He touched little on biology and astronomy, but few of his efforts truly expanded the body of knowledge at the time.
Aristotle on the other hand is regarded as one of the greatest scientist. He wrote many works in in math, physics and geometry, though much of his work was basically extensions or explanations of emerging ideas rather than deep insights. His observations in zoology and botany led him to classify all types of life, an effort that reigned as the basic biology system for centuries. However, most of his method of classification system had been replaced, but his works is still a foundation for modern nomenclature and taxonomy.
In Politics
Plato
felt that the individual should subsume his or her interests to that of
society in order to achieve a perfect form of government. His Republic
described an ideal society where each of the three classes
(philosophers, warriors, and workers) had its role to play, and governance was
kept in the hands of those deemed fit for that
responsibility. His point of view is mainly the elites or the more capable taking care of the less capable.
Aristotle
on the other hand saw the basic political unit as the city (polis), which took precedence
over the family, which in turn took precedence over the individual.
Aristotle said that man was a political animal by nature and could
not avoid the challenges of politics. In his point of view, politics functions
more as an organism than as a machine, and the role of the city was not
justice or economic stability, but to create a space where its people
could live a good life and perform beautiful acts.
