Opposing view: Aristotle versus Plato in Ancient Greece
Aristotle has made more lasting contribution to philosophy as compared to Plato. This statement can be justified on the basis of facts that Plato has envisioned the concept of just society as consisting of three classes, which are the producers i.e., craftsmen and farmers, the military i.e., warriors, and the rulers i.e., philosophers and kings. According to him, each class maintains justice and every class performs its proposed function (Santas, 2010). Such as the the it is compulsory for the king to rule, the producer should produce obediently and perform all the skills he possessed and the military should implement the edicts of governing leaders. However, Plato has contributed to the theoretical and methodological concerns, but as a matter of fact his contributions do not hold much significance for establishing philosophy as a privileged and a legitimate discipline. He has considered philosophy as a discipline that dissimilar to and is superior to sophistry, poetry, oratory and tragedy. If philosophy is considered as a discipline that investigates the questions relating to soul of humans, ethics, metaphysics and physics, then there is no important contribution of Plato is evident in this regard. In such cases, Aristotle has given explicit explanations.
Plato is however a great philosopher because he is the first person that has articulated the detailed and coherent description of all the elements that represent philosophy. He has invented the ideas of philosophy and defined ethical and intellectual life that he called philosophic life (Strauss, 1985). He has demarcated the domain boundaries of philosophical ideas and Aristotle has worked within the domain and made achievements because of accomplishments of Plato. Aristotle has practices some activities that were regarded as philosophic by Plato.
Aristotle has given a more consistent view about the life and just society. He has given the concept of a good life. Aristotle has introduced a viable concept of good life but Plato’s conception of life is not viable. Plato ahs considered good as a non-material entity that has is present far away from the physical world. According to Plato, a perfect good life does not exist. But, Aristotle has explained that the good of any specific thing depends on the complete actualization and realization of its strength and potency and good can be realized perfectly in the physical world (Haslip, 2003). So, good life is considered as a viable life for the human beings. Contrastingly, Plato considers that a man strives for achieving good but the good is not attainable. But according to Aristotle, a human being can attain good. Aristotle has believed on only what he saw with his eyes and about whom he is sure that it is true, but Plato consider that thing true on which he can give reasons. So, Aristotle is more realistic and inclined here as he has used scientific methods in order to physically prove the truths, before arriving at the conclusion that they are true. But Plato depends on the intuitions and common sense for determining truth. For the concept of just society, Aristotle does not have any important myth for helping the upper class and pressurizing the lower class, instead, he has introduced that concept of government that encourage all the citizens to participate in the state affairs (Kraut, 2002). Aristotle has emphasized on the significance of communal meals, so that all the citizens can gather and have meals together in the form of groups. In nut shell, Aristotle ideas hold superior position as compared to Plato, because he has considered the logical and actual facts behind all the matters.
References
Kraut, Richard. (2002). Aristotle: Political Philosophy. Oxford University Press, New York.
Santas, Gerasimos. (2010). Understanding Plato's Republic. John Willey and Sons Publishing Company, New Jersey
Strauss, Leo. (1985). Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy. University of Chicago Press.
Hasslip, Susan. (2003). Aristotle's Theory of the Good Life: A Consideration of the Role of Luck in the Good Life and the Concept of Self-Sufficiency. Quodlibet Journal, 5(1), 1526-6575
