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comparative study of plato & aristotle
aristotle's idea of reality vs platos
comparative study of plato & aristotle
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The Opposing Views of Great Minds
The word metaphysics is defined as “The study or theory of reality; sometimes used more narrowly to refer to transcendent reality, that is, reality which lies beyond the physical world and cannot therefore be grasped by means of the senses.” It simply asks what is the nature of being? Metaphysics helps us to reach beyond nature as we see it, and to discover the `true nature' of things, their ultimate reason for existing. There are many ways to approach metaphysics. Two of the earliest known thinkers on the topic are Plato and Aristotle. These two philosophers had ideas that held very contrasting differences that can be narrowed into a strong, select few. Both of the two thinkers approached metaphysics differently. They both held different views on the levels of reality. The two men held different approaches to forms. Although both men believed in the concept of forms, they both defined this concept differently.
Plato lived between 427 and 347 BC. Aristotle lived between 384 and322 BC. He grew from being Plato's pupil to being an independent thinker and rival. Plato was an inside/out philosopher as opposed to Aristotle’s outside/in thinking. This simply means that Plato developed his ideas from within and applied them to the outside world. Conversely, Aristotle took the views from the world around him and applied them within. These different approaches to metaphysics lead to the issue of Aristotle’s imminent reality versus Plato’s dualistic, transient reality. Aristotle’s beliefs lead to him seeing only one level of reality. He felt there was only one imminent world and that forms existed within particular things. Aristotle held that form had no separate existence and existed i...
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... by reason. Example: beautiful things vs. beauty.
What is real is the totality of Forms and these Forms account for whatever stability and intelligibility the world of illusory sense experience may possess.
Plato was inside out.
1. He believed in 2 level reality (transcendent).
The being was fixed and certain.
The becoming was changing.
2.form - exists in the world of being.
Copies exist in the world of becoming and are imperfect.
3. Prime mover- form in the world of being
4. Being – levels of reality – top level is justice.
- blending of forms
Aristotle was outside in.
1. one level of reality (imminent).
è god/s ?
2.forms – exist inside the thing itself
a.material cause
b.formal cause
c.efficient cause
d. final cause
pg 97
3.Nature – assumptions
its real
it’s a unity, a system
its essintial
predictable and constant
Plato, author of the Phaedo, was the second member of the brilliant philosophical flourish of ancient Athens that began with Socrates, continued through him and then culminated with Aristotle. Thou...
Aristotle lived in ancient Greece from 284 BC to 322 BC, but his teachings hav...
Plato and Aristotle alike were two men who had ideas on ways to improve existing society. Plato, a political philosopher, was in the pursuit of philosophical truth (Hacker 114). Aristotle was concerned with the citizen and the design of political institutions (Hacker 114). They both had well thought out ideas and plans on how to build a better society. Both Aristotle and Plato have had a tremendous impact on political scientists of today. Aristotle helped to develop some democratic ideas. In conclusion these men were great thinkers. Their opinions on society and its functions were quite different, but they both had the same intention, to build a better way of life for the societies they lived in and for the societies that would come to be in the future.
Plato registered the world around him as two separate realities, the visible world and the intelligible world. The essential difference in these worlds is in that the visible world is changing whereas the intelligible world is unchanging and eternal. The visible world consists of physical objects in their images, shadows, and reflections. Physical objects are in a constant state of flux, they are transient
Therefore, many of the philosophers disagreed with each other and came up with very different answers for the same concepts. Plato also did not know the answers to all of the questions that arose in the pre-Socratic era. Plato decided to look back on the pre-Socratics era in particular at the philosophers Heraclitus and Parmenides. He agreed with Heraclitus who believed our world is constantly changing and with Parmenides who believed that the real world is not the same as the world of our experience. Plato chose to look at materialism and also his theory of Forms in a two-world setting in order to attempt to answer the questions of the universe. The two worlds Plato is talking about are: a world that is in constant flux (the world we live in) and a world that is ever-changing (the real world, otherwise known as Forms). Plato’s Forms distinguishes things that are real from things in our mind that we perceive as real. Plato also made the argument that reality is different than our worldly experience. Plato believed that material objects can imitate the forms because they have order, however, Aristotle’s disagreed. However, Aristotle thought that Plato’s concept of “participation” didn’t make sense. Aristotle believed that the world we live in is our reality and he argued that Plato’s idea of forms
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with principles of things, which includes concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time and space. Aristotle calls it “first philosophy” or sometimes just wisdom. Aristotle also says that the subject deals with “first causes and the principles of things”. Metaphysics have three branches which are: ontology, natural theology, and universal science. Metaphysics is based on many things, such as existence and consciousness. Existence deals with the state of continued being. It is necessary for all knowledge and it can not be denied without actual truth. Consciousness is the faculty which perceives and identifies things that exist. Consciousness has three parties which are preconsciousness, consciousness, and unconsciousness. Pre Consciousness may be used frequently. Consciousness is more about thinking, feeling, and behavior. Unconsciousness is when you are unaware. When it comes down to consciousness and existence, the famous saying is Cogito ergo sum ( I think therefore I am) by Rene Descartes. Metaphysics and cosmology compare due that they are similar under the subtopics that they quire under their
...t” (310). The reasons you cannot exist with your ‘real’ I suggest is the idea that the real exists beyond so many things such as language and symbolism, which are arguably a majority of the world we inhabit.
...ed knowledge beyond ordinary people’s understandings. However, in some ways Aristotle did a better job than Plato. As a result, his ideas will continue to exist in this world for the generations yet to come.
Aristotle and Plato were both great thinkers but their views on realty were different. Plato viewed realty as taking place in the mind but Aristotle viewed realty is tangible. Even though Aristotle termed reality as concrete, he stated that reality does not make sense or exist until the mind process it. Therefore truth is dependent upon a person’s mind and external factors.
Plato: For today’s class Aristotle and I are going to discuss our ideas on the Theory of Form
Metaphysics comes from the Greek terms μετά, or metá, meaning above beyond or after, and φυσικά, or physiká, meaning physics. So at its roots, Metaphysics is the study of everything that lies above physical reality, and of what relationship those things have with it. However, one question arose repeatedly with almost every major metaphysical thinker, which narrowed the scope of metaphysics' targets. In contemplating that which lies after the corporeal, metaphysical minds began to wonder why things existed at all. After all, if things did not have existence, then there would nothing to consider. So, being and existence, which were before just two metaphysical concepts, became the highest powers presiding over the rest of reality, and the first philosopher to completely delineate these concepts would become equally important. This is how the quest for the cause for being began.
Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato were two of the most influential and knowledgeable ancients in our history. Their contributions and dedication to science, language and politics are immensely valued centuries later. But while the two are highly praised for their works, they viewed several subjects entirely differently, particularly education practices, and human ethics and virtue.
What is meant by Metaphysics? Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and value.
Both Plato and Aristotle based their theories on four widely accepted beliefs of the time; “knowledge must be of what is real, the world experienced via the senses is what is real, knowledge must be of what is fixed and unchanging, the world experienced via the senses is not fixed and unchanging.” Both Plato and Aristotle make use of their own definition of “form” to solve the problems with knowledge. Both the philosophers agreed that form classifies everything, for example a chair is a chair because it projects and reflects the form of a chair. However their exact definitions do vary. Plato claims that “Particulars (objects) are only crude representations of their Form”, whereas Aristotle argues that a “form is through the objects purpose which has been given to it by its designer / creator.” Secondly both Plato and Aristotle
Although Aristotle grew up under the ideas of Plato, through time he began to develop his own theories and views about philosophical thoughts (Aristotle Biography, 2015). Aristotle believed that in order to understand the natural world to the fullest, one must use each of the five senses, all of which we use to this day. Aristotle also had his own views of the world, especially the astronomy of it. He believed the earth was at the center of the universe and the remaining planets, only 5 known at the time, were circling around it (Worldview of Ancient Greece - Socrates, Plato & Aristotle, n.d.). We know now that his views on this matter are not taught and the planets revolve around the