Plato and Aristotle Notes

Plato and Aristotle Notes

*Plato believes people are good and trustworthy(one person can rule) while Aristotle believes people are all bad and cannot be trusted(punishments and rules are needed*

Plato - (Greek)
Born into the aristocracy(wealthy and affluent people of the society)
born in Athens(first place democracy was practiced)
Socrates(Plato's teacher, very influential)
Plato witnessed his execution(399 B.C.E.)
executed because of beliefs and teachings and for corruption of the youth
this made Plato fear his life, so he left Athens
when he returned, to make sure his name was remembered, he opened a school
The Academy(school about writing, reading, speeches, people talking)
teaches for the majority of his life
Aristotle(most famous student)
taught through dialogues that he wrote(lets you explain and elaborate on theories)
"The Republic"(Plato's most famous dialogue, on justice, participation of estate, people in society, and politics)
Plato's major ideas -
Atlantis(underwater society in the Straight of Gibraltar)
Hell(thought of before the bible, the place people go when they don't live their life right)
the idea that life is not predetermined and you have to make your own choices to see where your life will go
trying to show people that they should open their mind and understand that there is more to know then regular learning
Idea that there are 3 parts to a "good person" -
Desire(to want things)
Spiritual(your conchince)
Ration(make the right choices, do i really deserve this?)
an even mix and a lot of ration makes a "just" person
if one of these parts is greater than another then that is the type of person you will be
He thinks this "just" person should be a leader
However, in order to lead a society you need to be educated(education brings you up in social class)
Aristotle - (384 B.C.E. - 322 B.C.E.)
NOT born into aristocracy
worked for kings, father was a doctor(had money but were not in the aristocracy)
at age 17, moved to Athens and enrolled in "the Academy" for 20 years
became a teacher there and when Plato died he left Athens
couldn't go back home to Greece because the Macedonians took over and disliked Athens
moved to Persia and married King Phillip's niece
became friends with Phillip II(King Phillips son)
moved to Macedonian capital
king wanted him to personally tutor his son, Alexander(the great) [becomes emperor of Greek empire]
Later creates a school in Athens to make sure his name was not forgotten, Lyceum(would walk around and share ideas and thoughts and have casual discussions)[like a club]


I think these two philosophers had different ideas about how a society should be lead because of where they grew up. Plato grew up, in a wealthy society with money and was well educated. He also grew up in Athens which was the first place where a democracy was practiced, this system was not perfect but probably ran a lot smoother than if it were a tyranny. Plato must have believed that some of the people that lead his society were good since he was so sure that "just" people were out there. However, on the other had, Aristotle grew up in greece, not in the aristocracy and was around many kings and rulers because of his fathers job. Therefore he wittnessed a lot more of what a monarcy or tyranny was like. Since he got to know some of these rulers, like King Phillip and Alexander he probably saw their selfish sides and realized that just because people seem so just and good on the outside, their appearence is not always what it seems. My guess is that someone that he thought very highly of may have changed and he realized that even the people he was sure were good, can always change.

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