Introduction
Plato and Aristotle’s approaches to government and politics are often perceived as examples of two different categories of political analysis. Plato is commonly considered a political philosopher, while Aristotle, on the other hand, is regarded as a political scientist. This essay will examine the reasons behind different perceptions of the philosophers’ works and their perspectives on government and politics to differentiate between the two categories of political analysis.
Main body
Political philosophy is a field of philosophy that focuses on power in politics and studies, concepts, and theories that involve political opinions. Plato’s approach to politics makes him a political philosopher as his works and approach to politics mainly featured theoretical aspects of politics. Plato’s political philosophy questions broad concepts of justice, power, and connections of politics to virtues and knowledge. The wide specter of primary questions that Plato explored makes him a philosopher who studied political concepts.
Political science studies political organization and the work of political systems in the context of government. Even though Aristotle was a philosopher, he is considered a father of political science because he formulated and introduced the main concepts of politics in government, such as the forms of government, citizenship, property, democracy, revolution, etc. While Plato questioned the meaning of philosophical terms, Aristotle utilized an investigation approach; he contributed to the political sciences by introducing his perception of politics that he developed through experience and observations (Magstadt, 2020). Thus, Aristotle defined several political concepts in the context of government and established political science.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this essay explored different approaches that Plato and Aristotle utilized in their perception of politics. Plato focused on the aspects of politics that touched on philosophical terms, such as justice and power. Aristotle deepened Plato’s approach and defined his perception of political concepts, and introduced the context of government to political science. Thus, both philosophers present an example of different approaches to politics.
Reference
Magstadt, T. M. (2020). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues (13th ed.). Cengage Learning.