Jared Velez

5/02/2015
Compare and Contrast

Compare and contrast essay

In this essay I am going to compare and contrast two historic
philosophers Plato and Aristotle. Both philosophical geniuss whose mind
changed society to what it is today. I would like to show that both
philosophers had their own academys Platos being The Academy and
Aristotles being The Lyceum. Both Philosophers are important to this date.
In this paper I would like to talk about the similarities and differences of both
philosophers. I would also like to talk about their success on both ends. I
chose these too philosophers because it was interesting to learn in class that
it was teacher vs. student. Where Plato would philosophize a topic but
Aristotle would come back and create his own way of Philosophizing things.
Both are great philosophers who really helped create and mold their own
societies.
First I would like to start off with Plato. Plato was born in Athens (c.428347bc.). He was the pupil of Socrates. He founded The Academy which
some historians would say is the first university and where he taught
Aristotle. Platos main interests were epistemology, politics, militarism,
education, family, and virtue. Some notable ideas about Plato was theory of
forms, platonic idealism, platonic realism, hyperuranion, metaxy, and khora.
My favorite idea is Platonic idealism what that is Plato was saying that ideas

are real and different from non-idea things, he argued for a difference
between the idea and non-idea realm. Plato believed that there was only one
perfect version of anything. Anything else that we see by our senses is
actually a simulation of this perfect version or perfect form. To better explain
what Plato is trying to say is there are many types of cars but at the end of
the day they are all trying to be just a bed.
Then we have Aristotle who is Platos student. Born in Stageria, Chalcidice
384bc. His main interests of study were politics, metaphysics, science, logic
and ethics. He was the founder of the Lyceum academy. Some of his works
include The Golden mean, reason, logic, biology, and passion. My favorite of
Aristotles teachings is the Golden mean, and what that is the necessary
middle between two limits, one of excess and the other of deficiency. For
example, courage is a virtue, but if taken to excess would manifest as
recklessness, and in deficiency, cowardice. What that means is to find the
middle of the two things to find happiness.
Some of the influences for Plato was his teacher Socrates. Plato would
influence Aristotle just as much as Aristotle influenced Plato even though
Plato taught Aristotle. Platos work would be copied throughout Europe and
for centuries his work because a mandatory read, and would create a
political theory. On the other hand, Aristotle and his work became a strong
foundation for together religion and science. Aristotelian ethics were the
base of St. Thomas Aquinas work that helped mold Christian thought on
freedom and virtue. Plato work survived throughout time while Aristotles

was lost. Even though some of Aristotles teachings were lost he influenced
philosophy, ethics, physics, biology, religion, and many other things. Platos
work was much similar to Socrates, he tried to keep his tutors teachings
alive. He wrote using the Socrates method, asking questions to find
concepts to broaden your knowledge.
Some key differences of Plato and Aristotle is their idea about
reasoning. Aristotle would believe that there is not a universal form attached
to each object or concept, he thought that each concept would depend on
concept and object. We need to demonstrate a concept to make the qualities
of the object. While on the other side Plato states that concepts do have a
universal form. But both Plato and Aristotle would be certain of thoughts
were superior to senses. The difference between the two is that Plato
thought that senses could mislead someone. But Aristotle says that senses
are a necessity to help provide information to reality.
Aristotle and Plato views on ethics were both very similar but also very
different in a way. Plato believed that knowledge is virtue. Which means that
if you know what is good then it is good. For example, if you what the right
thing to do is, then it will help you do the right thing. This meant that virtue
can be shown by teaching someone from good and evil. But Aristotle was
different he dug just a little bit deeper than Plato, he says all because you
think that its good is not enough evidence to show, that you have to choose
to be in the right way. Socrates would also say that being happy cannot be
acquired without virtue. But Plato says that virtue is adequate for happiness.

Aristotle believed that virtue is a necessity for happiness. Plato parts

pleasure from the good. He says that both the scared can feel just as much
pleasure from his un moral acts as the hero can from his heroic deeds.
Aristotle, on the other hand says that the greatest good is happiness and
sees that pleasure is part of happiness. But, its not the most important park
of happiness. Just like his teach Plato, Aristotle sees the perfect good is life
well lived. Aristotle chose not to describe virtues he chose to address his
arguments. Plato does chose to describe some virtues as an example of the
good life.
Both philosophers Plato and Aristotle taught politics. Plato believed
that one person should subsume his interested to society in order to acquire
a perfect form of government. Platos ideal government consists of 3 classes
thinkers, soldiers, and workers. The government would be ruled by who was
considered the best qualified to do the job. To me Platos idea was similar to
what we have today we vote to for who our president or leader is. To break
our society down to simplicity we do have only 3 classes our government
being our societies thinkers, we have our soldiers and we have the people
who work to keep our society going. It shows how much influence Plato has
on our government.
Both philosophers had their own academys Platos academy was
named The Academy and Aristotles was named The Lyceum. The
Academy was considered the first university in the western world. It was
founded around 385BCE. In Akademeia. The Academy is where Aristotle

would attend until he opened his own school. The Academy went through
many leaders of the school. People would separate the eras from the new
and the old. The Lyceum on the other hand taught science and philosophy.
The Lyceum opened in 335 BC. Both schools taught very important people
that would greatly impact history.
I found that both philosophers were great to listen to and to see how
much they have impacted our lives today. They may have both similar ways
of philosophizing but I found myself agreeing more with Aristotle. I found that
Aristotle went just a little bit further when it came to ethics, the good life,
and living happy. I enjoyed research both philosophers because it was
interesting to see how the student vs. the teacher debates went. Plato would
have his own way of thinking but then Aristotle would find a more accurate
way of putting things. I like learning about Platos idea on government
because I can tell how much it influences how our society functions to day. It
is interesting to see how much of an impact they can make even though this
was so long ago and we still have their teaching in our schools today. I
learned a lot from doing my putting my time to research both of these
philosophers. It really strengthens the way I think and also opened my eyes
to what true happiness is. I also found myself learning new things about
myself and how to figure problems on my own. I loved learning about these
two philosophers and I would say that it is important for all of us to learn
about them to understand not just philosophy but it ties in with politics,
science, religion, and ethics.

Works cited
"Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.)." Aristotle. N.p., 06 Sept. 1996. Web. 02 May 2016.
"Plato." Bio.com. Ed. Biography.com Editors. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 02 May 2016.

"Comparison between Plato and Aristotle; Similarities and Differences." HubPages. HubPages, 8
July 2013. Web. 02 May 2016.
"Plato and Aristotle." Plato and Aristotle. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2016.