Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, most people are familiar with these names. Often you see them mentioned in famous motivational quotes. For a philosopher or philosophy student, these names mean much more. Aristotle and Plato were Greek philosophers who lived around 300 BC. These two influenced each other during their early days. Plato was a student of Socrates, and Aristotle was a student of Plato. The philosophers Aristotle and Plato were colleagues. However, later on, they developed different philosophies. Aristotle and Plato differ from each other in several of their views.
Aristotle vs Plato
Aristotle and Plato were both ancient Greek philosophers. Although Aristotle was influenced by Plato and studied under him, he later developed different views and philosophies.
Aristotle's work influenced both religion and science. The Muslim community during that period referred to Aristotle as the "First Teacher." A lot of Aristotle's works got lost during the ages, but the ones that remained include "Physics," "Politics," "De Anima (On The Soul)," "Poetics," and "Metaphysics." Aristotle pursued a philosophy which was empirical, commonsensical, and practical. He was a pioneer of deductive reasoning. According to his philosophies, forms did not exist as a single entity. Each form was the form of something. Aristotle's take on ethics was more practical, and he postulated that people should "choose" to do good to attain virtue. His views on politics declared man as a political animal with a desire to develop political communities. Aristotle was a revered scientist in his time and centuries after. He contributed to the fields of maths, geometry, physics, zoology, botany, astronomy, medicine, and geology.
Plato studied under Socrates and most of his works follow Socrates'. Plato's works influenced Aristotle. During his lifetime, Plato was considered the primary philosopher in Greece. His works are separated into three different periods. The first set of works contains ideas proposed by Socrates. The second period contains manuscripts with Plato's views about virtue and morality. The third set of works explores the role of arts, ethics and morality. Plato pursued a philosophy of idealism. He used inductive reasoning in his philosophies. According to his philosophies, Forms were considered the perfect embodiment of the properties of objects. Plato's take on ethics was theoretical. He postulated that knowing what is good meant doing a good deed. Plato's views on politics take on a utopian approach. He also made several contributions to science, but these got overshadowed by Aristotle's works.
Difference Between Aristotle and Plato in Tabular Form
| Parameters of Comparison | Aristotle | Plato |
| Time period | 384 – 322 B.C. | 428 – 348 B.C. |
| Birthplace | Athens | Stageira |
| Notable ideas | The Golden Mean, Hylomorphism, Logic, Syllogism, Theory of the Soul, Hexis | Theory of Forms, Platonic realism, Platonic idealism |
| Studied under the mentorship of | Plato | Socrates |
| Philosophy | Empirical, practical | Abstract, theoretical |
| Method of reasoning | Deductive | Inductive |
| Ethics | Practical (doing good leads to achieving good virtue) | Theoretical (Knowing what is good leads to achieving virtue) |
| Politics | Humans are political animals | Utopian society |
Who is Aristotle?
Aristotle's identity was that of a Greek philosopher and scientist. His works focused on science, logic, politics, biology, poetry and music. In his lifetime, He became the head of the Royal Academy of Macedonia and taught Alexander the Great.
Aristotle's Influence
Aristotle's work influenced religion and science alike. In the area of religion, his works influenced both Christianity and Islamic philosophy. Aristotle's works helped guide St. Thomas Aquinas' work on Christian theology of free will and virtue. For the Muslim community in that period, Aristotle was the "First Teacher." Until the emergence of the Renaissance, Aristotle's scientific observations were the most revered.
Aristotle's Works
Time has not been kind to Aristotle's works; nearly 80% of his written word got lost. Of the 200 treatises he wrote, only 31 have survived. The remaining works consist of lecture notes and teaching aids. However, some of his famous works were copied by hand multiple times throughout the ages. These works include "Physics," "Politics," "De Anima (On The Soul)," "Poetics," and "Metaphysics."
Aristotle's Philosophy
Aristotle pursued a philosophy which was empirical, commonsensical, and practical.
Aristotle was a pioneer of deductive reasoning. He developed the syllogism, "if A=B and B=C, then A=C."
Forms
In Aristotle's perspective, forms did not exist as a single entity. Each form was the form of something. He put forward two forms, the substantial form and the accidental form. "Substantial forms" are attributed to things and give them their essence. Without "substantial forms," things would not exist. For example, "an apple is a fruit." The form "fruit" is the essence of the apple. Without this form, apple would not exist. "Accidental forms," on the other hand, can be gained or lost by a thing without losing its essence. For example, "An apple is red." The form red is an "accidental form." However, even without this form, the apple will still exist plus, it can change colour, from red to green, without losing its essence.
Ethics
Aristotle and Plato considered the chief problem of ethics "the achievement of happiness." For them, "happiness," is not a pleasant state of mind but a flourishing human life. This "happiness" can be obtained through virtue.
In the case of Aristotle, simply being aware of right and wrong is not enough. Instead, a person has to choose to do good. This perspective makes Aristotelian ethics "practical" in comparison to the theoretical versions of Plato. According to Aristotle, "happiness" was the right kind of behaviour. For human life to be good, it should engage in reasoning. Rational activities get performed due to virtues. Aristotle acknowledged intellectual (wisdom and understanding) and moral (courage, temperance) virtues.
For Aristotle, wisdom was a virtue in and of itself. To achieve wisdom, one must strive to think and act with wisdom. Further, in the absence of wisdom, other virtues would remain inaccessible.
In his belief, virtue is a necessity to obtain happiness. But virtue cannot result in satisfaction; a person has to add other social constructs too.
Politics
According to Aristotle, man's innate nature was a political animal. It is the nature of humans to develop political communities, and they cannot exist without it. The purpose of creating communities is to accelerate human happiness. Politics was considered an organism and not a machine. The duties of this organism were not to provide justice or economic stability; instead, it was to help people attain good lives.
Aristotle proposed a classification of different forms of government depending on the number of rulers and their interests.
- Monarchy- a form of government in which one person rules in the interest of all.
- Tyranny- a form of government with a single ruler who rules for his interests only.
- Aristocracy- A form of government in which a minority group rules focusing on the interests of everyone.
- Oligarchy- A form of government in which a minority group is ruling with a focus on their interests.
- Polity- A majority group as rulers and focusing on the interests of everyone.
- Democracy- A form of government in which a majority group rules with a focus on their interests.
According to these classifications, Monarchy was chosen as the best, followed by an aristocracy. But since these two often had the potential to turn into tyranny and oligarchy, the polity is the best form of governance.
Aristotle's Contributions to Science
Aristotle was one of the first verifiable scientists. He developed methods to study the universe and draw conclusions. His works have been replaced or augmented over the centuries, but the basic processes remained.
- He helped advance concepts in math, geometry and physics.
- He provided a new classification for the fields of zoology and botany. These classifications served as the primary method used for centuries.
- His papers on astronomy postulated stars other than the sun but remained geocentric.
- Aristotle also made valuable contributions to the fields of medicine and geology.
Aristotle's Background
Aristotle was born into an aristocratic family in 354 B.C. in Stagira, Greece. The name Aristotle means "the best purpose." He received private education growing up, his first field of training being medicine. He was a bright student and was thus sent to Athens to join Plato's Academy in 367 B.C. He studied in the Academy for almost 20 years until 347 B.C. Although Aristotle admired Plato, he did not agree with all of Plato's teachings. After Plato's death, he left the Academy to follow his path. After the Academy, he travelled to Asia Minor (Turkey). In 338 B.C., he got recalled to Macedonia as a private tutor to Alexander the Great, Ptolemy and Cassander.
Who is Plato?
Plato is one of the greatest philosophers and mathematicians to have ever lived. Plato was a pupil of Socrates and was greatly influenced by him. One of Plato's famous oeuvres, "Socratic Dialogues," is still used in subjects like philosophy, logic, religion, etc.
Plato's Influence
Plato's teachings greatly influenced Aristotle. During his lifetime, Plato was considered the primary philosopher in Greece. After the disbandment of his Academy, Plato's works got copied by hand and spread throughout Europe. Plato's oeuvres got assigned as a required reading for classical education students.
Publications of Plato
For easier edification, Plato's oeuvres are separated into three different periods.
The first set of works contains ideas proposed by Socrates. These publications were an attempt to immortalise his mentor's teachings. One famous monograph is The Apology.
The second period contains manuscripts with Plato's views about virtue and morality. In these works, he explores the topics like justice, courage, wisdom and the duality of responsibility and power. One of his famous monographs from this period is The Republic.
The third set of works explores the role of arts, ethics and morality. Plato participates in a self-debate about his own works. These discussions led to the development of idealism. In idealism, the actual nature of things exists only in thought, not in reality. One of his famous monographs from this period is "The Theory of Forms and other works."
Plato's Philosophies
According to Plato, objects and concepts could be grouped into a universal Form, which is the ideal form. This belief led to the development of his idealistic philosophy. Plato followed inductive reasoning in his philosophies.
Forms
Objects or substances have their unique properties or are considered a part of a particular classification because they "participate" in the Forms that correlate with these properties and classifications. For example, "The red apple is delicious," because the apple participates in the Forms "Red," "apple," and "delicious."
Plato considered Forms as abstract objects, things understood only through the mind and not the perceptions by sense organs. In addition, these Forms are changeless and therefore hold an exceptionally greater degree of reality than the objects of this world.
Ethics
Plato's ethics reflected that of Socrates'. He believed that knowledge itself was a virtue. That is, knowing what is good meant doing the good deed. This perspective meant virtues could to taught to someone.
According to Plato and by extension Socrates, wisdom was the fundamental virtue. Further, wisdom could unify the rest of the virtues and become whole. Plato formulated that happiness could be achieved by virtue. Some of Plato's early work comprises an in-depth look into the essence of conventional virtues, for example, courage, temperance and piety.
Politics
According to Plato, people should incorporate their interests with society's interests to create the perfect government. In his book, "The Republic," Plato talks about a utopian society. In this society, there exist three classes, philosophers, workers and warriors, and each of these classes had their role. The governing duties were given to those deemed most worthy to take on the responsibility, the "Philosopher Rulers."
Plato’s Contributions to Science
Plato made contributions to the fields of Physics, Mathematics and Geometry. However, his concepts were only exploratory and not applicable. He also wrote about concepts in biology and astronomy, but these were never considered an addition to the already existing knowledge of that period.
Plato's Background
Plato was born into a wealthy family circa 424 B.C. His father, Ariston was a descendant of the Kings of Athens and Messenia. His mother, Perictione was a relative of Solon, a statesman of Greece. After birth, he was gifted the family name "Aristocles," however he later took on the name Plato when he became a wrestler.
Plato received education from numerous tutors on a variety of topics, but they mostly focused on philosophy. Eventually, he started to study under Socrates, one of the greatest philosophers of the time. His studies, however, abruptly ceased with the eruption of the Peloponnesian War (War between Athens and Sparta). From 409 to 404 B.C., Plato fought in the war but eventually left Athens when Sparta won. He spent the next 12 years travelling and studying. In the end, he set up his academy around 385 B.C. and governed it till his death around 348 B.C.
Main Differences Between Aristotle and Plato in Points
- Plato studied under Socrates and Aristotle studied under Plato.
- Aristotle's philosophy was considered more empirical and practical. In contrast, Plato's views were more abstract and utopian.
- Aristotle used deductive reasoning, while Plato used inductive reasoning.
- According to Aristotle, forms did not exist as a single entity. For Plato, Forms were the perfect embodiment of the properties of objects.
- Aristotle postulated a practical philosophy on ethics, while Plato postulated a theoretical one.
- According to Aristotle, humans are political creatures and aspire to create political communities. In contrast, Plato put forth a Utopian society.
Conclusion
In short, both Greek philosophers contributed to their societies. Even though they were colleagues and Aristotle was Plato's student, their philosophical views vary. One follows an empirical approach with deductive thinking, while the other follows an abstract approach and inductive thinking processes. Both of their works were followed for centuries, but with the emergence of new theories, the modern world seems to have forgotten them.
References
- https://www.britannica.com/story/plato-and-aristotle-how-do-they-differ#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20conventional%20view,empirical%2C%20practical%2C%20and%20commonsensical
- https://historyplex.com/an-in-depth-comparison-between-plato-aristotle
