Introduction
The teachings on philosophy, morality, and politics have followed Plato’s ideals. Aristotle enlightened the community on ideals of life and insights into what a good life should be and intended their concepts to be well understood and influence societal opinions positively and elaborately. Some of Aristotle’s works are founded on Plato’s notions and ideals. Ancient Greek philosophy represents the age of reason and metaphysical knowledge. The Greek philosophers are widely recognized for their role in the invention of knowledge based on reason and inquiry. This age made great contributions to the development of math and science. In their contribution to metaphysical knowledge, Plato, a student of Socrates, explored writings relating to justice, natural beauty, and equality (Boeri, 2018). Equally, Aristotle was a student of Plato at the school of Athens and explored topics in science, logic, ethics, and metaphysics. Both philosophers contributed knowledge about nature and human life. However, despite Aristotle learning the ideals of platonic idealism, their teachings and approaches differed from Plato’s idealism. The essay investigates the different arguments leveled by Aristotle, which deviated from Platonism idealism.
Aristotle vs. Plato
Aristotle’s ideologies were based on deductive reasoning, while Platonic idealism was inclined to inductive reasoning. Aristotle’s deductive reasoning used information or the accepted general rules to prove a conclusion. Similarly, the Platonism approach concludes reasoning by making a normal generalization based on human and natural behavior. Aristotle’s knowledge representation was based on either validity or invalidity, but inductive reasoning was either strong or weak. In addition, Plato believed that all concepts had universal forms. The role of two Greek philosophers aimed to analyze the fundamental problems related to human beings and their existence in the universe. On specific topics, Plato’s idealism argued that truth lies in the abstract of ideals (Heinaman, 2017). This was contrary to Aristotle’s point of view, as he believed in fundamental principles such as mathematics and physics to establish true forms of things.
According to the spiritual school of thought, humans perceive nature through their senses, which reveals certain incomplete inferences of the real truth. It is evident in the previous encounters between Plato and Socrates. However, Aristotle views the inference of complete truth in terms of natural essences and believes that the arts and objects are essential in helping them understand things (Mignucci, 2020). After an analysis of his ideas, this essay agrees with the Aristocratic view of things. The philosophical contemplation or the logical assessment of reality cannot be primarily based on observations but may entail metaphysical tests and analyses.
Aristotle views politics as a way of life and emphasizes the importance of politics in human life. This difference leads to the existence of two political theories of politics; the platonic theory is aimed at transformational politics, and the aristocratic theory is more on political reality. The philosophy of Plato is widely theoretical and abstract in setting, but aristocratic philosophy is practical and experimentation oriented. The metaphysical ideas deviate from Plato’s Realms and the foundations of Christian theology. For example, according to Plato’s school of thought, true knowledge is acquired from reason, and the beauty of the soul in the world is just part of reality. The only reality lies in the soul trying to free itself from the physical form. On the other side, Aristotle believed in the soul, but he also believed in human reasoning, which exists in the form of creativity and passive reasoning (Mignucci, 2020). Passive reasoning relates to the body and ends on death, but creative thinking exists in the soul and comprises the humans’ spiritual part. In his argument, God existed in pure human thought thinking.
According to Aristotle, achieving the ultimate good and achieving happiness define the ultimate end of humans. Plato’s philosophy, on the other hand, Plato believed in the pursuit of happiness in the community as a whole (Lienemann, 2021). Aristotle argues that happiness is attained once a person attains certainly expected achievements, which makes his teachings more individualistic than Plato’s, which are more communal.
In Aristotle’s teaching of ethics, he discusses that what separates good and evil is simply the factor that enables or hinders people from attaining their individual goals. He considers everything that hinders a human achievement to attain a specific goal as evil. In Platonism, evil is merely looked upon in the political facts (Heinaman, 2017). Evil exists as a cultural and political fact and gives them definitions, simply as evil meaning not beneficial and good meaning beneficial to human life and the community setting in general.
Notably, Plato gained knowledge in the highest and most ideal manner. In his perspective, people have to strive to earn knowledge and do good or just. Aristotle’s perspectives are based on the general view of land, law, governance, and judgment. They claim politics to be the control of the human way of life (Boeri, 2018). Aristotle’s philosophy has, however, proven significance in guiding human life in the traditional and postmodern world.
Aristotle was Plato’s student at Athens academy, an institution for philosophical research founded by Plato. History proves that, even though Aristotle revered his teacher, his philosophy deviated from Plato’s important Aspects (Lienemann, 2021). He started to explore philosophy in fields of science, which is very different from Plato’s concept. This brought the difference between Plato’s Utopian philosophy and Aristotle’s Empirical and practical philosophy. It is noted that once, at a later time, in a conversation between Plato and Aristotle, the latter pointed to heaven and the former holding Etica pointed to the world. This happened in the presence of philosophers while Plato held a copy of Timaeus dialogue. The incident shows a greater deviation between the two views, with Plato’s philosophy being dialectic; their parts and ideals failed to match.
The methodological writing styles between Plato and Aristotle also differ. Plato is known to have used dialogue and metaphysics, well-intended to teach people and bring understanding (Heinaman, 2017). Plato’s metaphysical ideas also bear great resemblance to Christian theology. This slightly differed from Aristotle’s mode and style, which incorporated methodological discussion to bring conclusions. This style is referred to as treatise, and it is evident in his author and works in Nichomachean ethics.
Conclusion
The two philosophers existed in ancient Greek, and their teaching founded the empirical knowledge on the idealism of the world we live in today. Platonic idealism influenced the ideals of modern society through democratic governance and the establishment of ethical citizen governance. On the other hand, Aristocratic idealism led to scientific innovation and technological advancement, which can be traced to have occurred through experimental aspects of metaphysics established during the medieval period. The enlightenment age philosopher later absorbed the Greek philosopher’s teachings and idealism, and the foundations of the knowledge quest have had long-term significance even in modern societies.
References
Boeri, M. D. (2018). Plato and Aristotle on what is common to soul and body. Some remarks on a complicated Issue. In Soul and Mind in Greek Thought. Psychological Issues in Plato and Aristotle (pp. 153-176). Springer, Cham.
Heinaman, R. (2017). Plato and Aristotle’s ethics. Routledge.
Lienemann, B. (2021). Aristotle on the rationality of women: Consequences for virtue and practical accountability. In State and Nature (pp. 135-156). De Gruyter.
Mignucci, M. (2020). Aristotle’s theory of predication. In Studies on the History of Logic (pp. 1-20). De Gruyter.