Aristotle is a disciple of Plato, but on a number of fundamental issues, the philosopher disagreed with his teacher. Aristotle believed that Plato’s theory of ideas was entirely insufficient to explain empirical reality. Thus, he sought to bridge the Platonic gap between the world of sensible things and the world of ideas. Aristotle was a more modern philosopher in his views at that time than Plato.
One of the most important aspects is that Plato is the founder of objective idealistic philosophy. His main achievement is the substantiation of the superphysical world of ideal entities. For centuries, classical education treated Plato’s works as compulsory reading, and “Republic” was the leading work on political theory until the XIX century; admired not only philosopher’s views but also its elegant prose (Baird, 2018). Aristotle and his writings became the basis for both religion and science, especially in the Middle Ages. In religion, Aristotelian ethics was the basis for St. Thomas Aquinas – works that shaped the Christian thought about free will and the role of virtue (Boeri et al., 2018). Aristotle’s empirical approach, based on observation, hypothesis, and direct experience (experimentation), is at least part of the basis of scientific activity in almost all areas of research.
Plato believed that concepts have a universal form, an ideal form, which leads to his idealistic philosophy. Aristotle believed that universal forms are not necessarily tied to every object or concept (Boeri et al., 2018). This viewpoint leads to Aristotelian empiricism, in which each instance of an object or notion should be examined independently. Aristotle believed that the essence of things is their observable forms and that empirical observation is the best way to truth. The philosopher believed in the truthfulness of human perception and saw no need for habitual skepticism (Baird, 2018). In addition to such observations, Aristotle also considered it essential to take into account expert and even popular opinion in philosophy (Sharma, 2020). The philosopher did not claim that people should agree with these opinions, but he accepted them as important data. Aristotle often argued that popular, even naive, ideas point to critical insights and should be considered.
It is worth noting the fact that both Aristotle and Plato believed that thoughts surpass feelings. However, if Plato believed that senses could deceive a person, then Aristotle argued that feelings are necessary in order to determine reality correctly (Boeri et al., 2018). This means that knowing good means doing good; that is, knowing the right thing will automatically lead to the right thing (Baird, 2018). Aristotle argued that knowing what is right is not enough, that people need to choose the right way to act, they need to create a habit of doing good (Gracie, 2022). For Socrates and Plato, wisdom is the primary virtue, and with its help, it is possible to combine all the virtues into one whole.
Aristotle believed that wisdom is virtuous but that the achievement of virtue is not automatic and does not give any association (acquisition) of other integrity (Gracie, 2022). For Aristotle, wisdom was a goal achieved only after effort, and until a person decides to think and act wisely, other virtues will remain unattainable (Baird, 2018). Aristotle asserts that all virtues, such as abstinence, courage, and modesty, follow a middle path between two vices – the vice of excess and lack; for example, he asserts that courage is halfway between cowardice and rashness.
Like that of most other Greek philosophers, Plato’s contribution to science was insignificant compared to Aristotle. Plato wrote about mathematics, geometry, and physics, but his work was more exploratory in concept than applicable (Baird, 2018). Aristotle is considered one of the first natural scientists. He developed an early form of the scientific method for studying the universe and came to conclusions based on his findings (Sharma, 2020). Although his method was changed over time, the overall process remained the same. He introduced new concepts to mathematics, physics, and geometry. Most of his work was mainly an extension or explanation of emerging ideas. His observations in zoology and botany led to the classification of all types of life, an effort that reigned as the central system of biology for centuries. Despite the fact that Aristotle’s classification system has been replaced, most of his method is still used in modern nomenclature.
Plato believed that an individual must subordinate his interests to the interests of society in order to achieve perfect government. His “Republic” depicted an ideal society in which each of the three classes (philosophers, warriors, and workers) had a duty to play, and control was in the hands of those deemed best capable of doing so (Baird, 2018). Aristotle saw the primary political unit as a city (polis), which had priority over the family, which, in turn, had priority over the individual (Huppes-Cluysenaer & Coelho, 2018). People, according to Aristotle, are political animals by nature, and hence cannot avoid political issues (Baird, 2018). In his opinion, politics functions more like an organism than a machine, and the role of the policy in this is also significant (Huppes-Cluysenaer & Coelho, 2018). Although Aristotle avoided utopian solutions or large-scale constructions (such as nations or empires), he went beyond political theory and became the first political scientist to observe political processes in order to formulate improvements.
When considering the philosophical views of Plato and Aristotle, they differ in determining what the reality around people is. For Plato, the things of the sensually perceived world are considered only an appearance, a distorted reflection of what truly exists. For Aristotle, a sensually perceived thing is considered as a fundamental unity of form and matter. Thus, in conclusion, it is important to note that Aristotle was critical of Plato’s theory of ideas.
References
Baird, F. E. (2018). Philosophic classics. Routledge.
Boeri, M. D., Kanayama, Y. Y., & Mittelmann, J. (2018). Soul and mind in Greek thought. Psychological issues in Plato and Aristotle (studies in the history of philosophy of mind). Springer.
Gracie, J. (2022). Comparing the similarities and differences between Plato and Aristotle. Owlcation.
Huppes-Cluysenaer, L., & Coelho, N. M. (2018). Aristotle on emotions in law and politics. Springer.
Sharma, B. (2020). Plato, Aristotle & the dialectics of poetry. International Journal on Integrated Education, 3(9), 6–10.