Aristotle and Plato

Aristotle and Plato are linked not only in that each are well-known Greek philosophers from the ancient world but in that Plato was once the teacher and Aristotle the student, but Aristotle diverged from the thinking of his teacher and took a different view of knowledge and of various aspects of philosophy. Allen writes, "Aristotle's thought is in some ways a mirror image of Plato's" (Allen 21). Plato was a rationalist and believed that reality can only be grasped by intuitive reason, while Aristotle was an empiricist who saw perception as the only avenue to reality. These approaches to knowledge represent two opposing types of philosophy. Plato was an idealist, while Aristotle was a realist (Allen 21). The two philosophers can be contrasted on a number of issues and on their philosophical style as well.

Plato presented his philosophical inquiries in the form utilized by his mentor, Socrates, that form being the Socratic dialogue. The philosopher-teacher would ask questions of his followers-pupils, and they would answer. Socrates would guide the discussion and convince his followers through reasoned argument (Janaway 357). Aristotle did not usually make use of the dialogue form, though he did write some dialogues. Most of his work is in the form of treatises which may or may not have been lecture notes. Plato created the Academy, a school to convey his ideas, while Aristotle created the Lyceum as a rival institution.

Plato approached the issue of knowledge and f

Related Essays

Plato and Aristotle and Reason .... This essay will explore the roles that reason and emotion played in Aristotle and Plato's philosophy, and will show that while both philosophers believed that .... (1326 5 )

Plato, Aristotle, and Machiavelli .... And does it apply to Aristotle and Plato? (Choose one, or you may refer to both) If it does, how and in what way? If it doesn't, how and in what way? .... (2455 10 )

Plato & Aristotle & Issue of Abortion .... citizenship (Plato 504). There are a number of differences between the moral philosophies of Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle seems the .... (1081 4 )

Philosophical Views of Aristotle & Plato .... For both Plato and Aristotle, the philosopher has a social role in imparting his wisdom to others (Aristotle) or in guiding others to think for themselves and .... (2823 11 )

Differences Between Aristotle & Plato .... Aristotle was originally one of Plato's students, but he came to disagree with what he called the "other-worldliness" of his teacher. .... (2155 9 )

irth. Birth is a traumatic event and causes the soul to forget these truths. It is then up to the individual to spend the rest of his or her life addressing the soul to find what the soul already knows. We come to the truth, then, as a matter of rediscovery. Socrates in the dialogues acts as a guide helping his students to remember rather than teaching them something that comes from outside themselves. Hugh Lawson-Tancred states of Aristotle, The philosophy of Aristotle has been of enormous historical importance. It extends the work of Plato, but emerges with a very different view of reality (Lawson-Tancred 399). Aristotle's works are described by Lawson-Tancred as more complex than those of Plato in part because he lived at a later and more complex age of philosophical discussion. Aristotle was originally one of Plato's students, but he came to disagree with what he called the "other-worldliness" of his teacher. For Plato there were two worlds, the world perceived by the senses, and the world of the Forms, the ideals of which the objects in this world are only pale imitations. Aristotle disputed this, asking how, if the Forms are the essences of things, the Forms could exist separated from things, and how, if the For

Category: Philosophy - A