Aristotle vs Plato Essay

Aristotle and Socrates and Platos beliefs tolerate similarities mainly evident in their denouncement of republic for the state. The views of Socrates verbalized and written by his pupil Plato ar vastly philosophical in nature and he promotes the image of questioning keep to achieve insight. The philosophers who hold the absolute truth atomic number 18 the outperform equipped to regularize confederacy according to Plato and his Allegory of the Cave. Conversely, Aristotle takes a more semipolitical science climax of discussing and analyzing various constitutions to determine the best form of organization, where the rational beings in a society are the natural rulers.Aristotle promotes the idea of rule based on law rather than simple superiority. The differences in these beliefs are important because of the implications of Aristotles writings, which provide a trend for citizens and statesmen to utilize philosophy in politics and the state. Consequently, information in Po litics is chinkn again throughout modern politics. The similarities of Aristotles beliefs expressed through his writings in Politics to the beliefs of Plato and Socrates expressed in the recorded dialogues of The Republic are centered mainly on a fear of democracy.Aristotle asserts that only those who are concerned with virtue and legal government should be the leaders in a society or union (CP 325). In Book III of Politics Aristotle describes what the role of the majority should be in politics, By means of these considerations, too, one might solve the business mentioned earlier and excessively the related one of what the free should have delegacy over, that is to say, the multitude of the citizens who are not rich and have no take whatsoever arising from virtue.For it would not be sage to have them participate in the most important offices, since, because of their lack of justice and pr deedical wisdom, they would inevitably act unjustly in some(prenominal) instances and m ake mistakes in other(prenominal)s. (CP 325) Through this view, Aristotle expresses his suspiciousness of a total democracy that is parallel to the ideas of his mentors. Plato attacks democracy and describes the disbursement of political freedom to the masses as an intoxication of wine, claiming that a democratic metropolis gets drunk on too much unmixed freedom (Plato).Plato e ramate the filtration of this drunkenness from society disobeying rulers trickling down to the son disrespecting the father and eventually pair rights in relations surrounded by the sexes (Plato). Plato and Aristotle theatrical role this skepticism of democracy. The limitation of freedom, liberty, and equivalence not only with regards to mistrust of democracy but also in terms of denial of citizenship and justification of thralldom are commonalities in the teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Plato accepts slavery throughout The Republic, because he often deems whole groups of people unworth y of freedom.Aristotles justifies slavery through the characteristic of rationality he claims that there is a condition of natural slavery where when one being is rational and the other is not, there is a natural master-slave relationship (CP 309). For if something is capable of rational foresight, it is a natural ruler and master, whereas whatever can use its body to labor is ruled and is a natural slave (CP 309). These justifications of slavery make incomplete Plato nor Aristotle egalitarians. Aristotle and Plato both express the importance of excellence, each in different ways.Plato believes that adult male are working towards excellence when they are pursuing that which they are best suited for based on the division of men into three course of actiones lovers of wisdom, victory, and returns (Plato). Aristotle claims that the excellence of human beings is achieved through their participation in the state, and performing their functions in society, he relies less on the caste system of Plato and more on the cap index of the individual. Socrates and Plato illustrate the idea of the unawareness of humanity and its lack of judiciousness through the Allegory of the Cave.In this analogy, Plato presents a society of captives living in a cavelike underground dwelling where they have been chained foot and cope since childhood (PLATO,? simile? OF? THE? FORMS? FROM? THE? REPUBLIC)). The prisoners can only see a fence in directly in front of them and behind them is a elicit between the prisoners and the fire is a road that people walk on carrying things on their heads, including figures of men and animals made of wood, stone, and other materials which cast shadows on the wall in front of the prisoners (PLATO,?ALLEGORY? OF? THE? FORMS? FROM? THE? REPUBLIC)). Some of the people on the road talk, creating echoes in the cave. The prisoners regard these shadows and sounds as honesty, as it is all they have ever known of the world. Plato and Socrates then present the situation of a prisoner who escapes from the cave, and after adjusting to the light, realizes the true nature of earthly concern and after that hed contemplate the heavenly bodies and heaven itself by night, finding starlight and moonlight easier to prospect at than sunlight and the sun (PLATO,?ALLEGORY? OF? THE? FORMS? FROM? THE? REPUBLIC).Eventually the prisoner would contemplate the sun and conclude that this is the giver of seasons and years, curator of all in the visible sphere, the cause somehow of all that he used to see (PLATO,? ALLEGORY? OF? THE? FORMS? FROM? THE? REPUBLIC). The prisoner returns to the cave, only to be doubted and misunderstood by the other prisoners. In this parable, the philosopher is like the prisoner who escapes, and is the person has seen the true reality and has been enlightened to the truth.Through this analogy, Plato describes who he believes should govern society. Since it is the philosophers who have seen true reality and understood absolut e truth, they are the best suited to rule in society. Thus, the consequences of the ideas presented in the Allegory of the Cave are a ruling class of enlightened philosophers who pull up stakes direct the city towards absolute truth and harmony. The differences between the philosophies of Aristotle and Plato are manifest in Aristotles dismissal of the Allegory of the Cave.Aristotle rejects the idea of an absolute truth, and stresses rationality rather than enlightenment as determining characteristics of a ruling class. Aristotle focuses on the importance of citizenship in Politics and the participation in the state. Aristotle claims that if indeed there are several kinds of constitution, there cannot be a single virtue that is the virtue -the complete virtude -of a good citizen, but that the good man, does express a single, complete virtue, and thus, it is possible for someone to be a good citizen without having the virtue expressed by a good man (CP 322).Aristotle challenges the i dea of absolute governing power of a guide class of philosopher kings that is presented by Plato and Socrates and identifies the problems that are raised by such a ruling class. The way Socrates selects his rulers is also risky. He makes the same people rule all the time, which becomes a cause of conflict even among people with no merit, and all the more so among spirited and warlike men. Aristotle assembles and exams constitutions and is in that way more of a political scientist than a philosopher, while Plato and Socrates focused on theoretical and metaphysical questions close the universe and the soul.Aristotle extends his analysis of constitutions and in doing so reveals serious political problems that would arise from Socrates and Platos view of governance. These problems would inhibit the individuals ability to participate in the state, something that Aristotle believes is essential to the good of individuals and the good of the comm wiz. Aristotle presents the problem of ar ising factions in Book V of Politics and states that if people have no share in office or are treated unjustly or arrogantly, the start factions and change constitutions (Moschella).Plato and Socrates believed that the philosophers k naked as a jaybird what was best for all, and thus there would be no discontent or revolution. Aristotles explanation of factions caused by inequality challenges that notion and even advises increasing the middle class to help dissolve factions (Moschella). Aristotle also disagrees with the idea of the unified state presented by Socrates wherein the nuclear family is rejected and children are transferred throughout the community. Aristotle claims that the more unified a city-state becomes, the less of a city-state is becomes as city-states by definition require diversity (CP 310).This unity creates problems according to Aristotle who states, For a household and a city-state must indeed be a unity up to a point, but not totally so. For there is a point at which it will, as it goes on, not be a city-state, and another at which, by being nearly not a city-state, it will be a worse one (CP 310). The political consequences of the disagreements between Aristotle and Socrates/Plato are a liberalization of the class system, as well as new definition of virtue and purpose in the state.Aristotles description and advice about politics in his work allow for the appearance of a word about factions, the consequences of which are manifested many centuries later in the Federalist Papers. Aristotle describes ways to counterpoise the interests of the few with the interests of the many, the interests of minority and the majority, and of the wealthy and the poor through his combination of oligarchy and democracy into polity. Through this idea of addressing factions and political interdependence Aristotle outlines the way to a persistent state.Aristotles claims of law, constitution, polity, factions, and citizenship all have comparability to many U. S. notions of political life even his justification of slavery is reminiscent of the views of some founding fathers. Aristotle sight and outlined many elements of early American political thought massive before the existence of the United States. Aristotle himself said, For practically speaking, all things have been discovered, although some have not been collected, and others are known about but not used (CP 315).Work cited Moschella, Melissa. Aristotles Politics Study Guide heavyset and Analysis of Book V. GradeSaver, 01 May 2000 Web. 25 April 2013. Plato, . The Republic. . http//classics. mit. edu/Plato/republic. 10. ix. html, n. d. Web. 22 Apr 2013. . PLATO,? ALLEGORY? OF? THE? FORMS? FROM? THE? REPUBLIC. . N. p.. Web. 22 Apr 2013. .