Austin Waddoups

Philosophy 1000
Essay #2
May 1, 2016
Final Paper
So as I sat here and pondered which two philosophers we talked about this year
and who I wanted to compare and contrast, the ones who stuck out to me the most was
Aristotle and Plato. These are both very famous philosophers and have had some very
good reasoning behind their thoughts and opinions. I really enjoyed learning about these
two because they made you really think and ponder about what they were saying. Thats
the amazing thing about philosophy is it helps your mind to think and form an opinion.
Philosophy is everywhere, you will do it everyday and hear it everyday, its just a part of
life.
Aristotle was a son of a court physician, he was born in Stagira, which is a Greek
Community. Aristotle attended Platos academy when he was eighteen years old. The day
he arrived at the school everyone noticed him because of the way he would dress and act.
Plato said that he didnt dress like a philosopher. Only being there a short period of time
Aristotle earned a reputation of being one of the best students at the academy. Aristotle
studied with Plato for over 20 years, and something that I found very interesting is how
he didnt always agree with Platos philosophical views. He was a very intelligent man
who had his own reasonings behind things. In fact after the death of Plato, Aristotle was
supposed to take over the mastery but the trustees said he was a foreigner so they gave it

to a native instead. Aristotle was a very bright and intelligent individual, in fact they even
had him write a code of laws to help the community which was affected by the war.
Plato was a great teacher and mentor, he was referred to as the philosopher king.
Plato was born into a very prestigious family. Plato actually was his nickname, his name
was Aristocles which meant the best, most renowned. He was a very artistic man,
growing up he succeeded at almost everything he did. He was born into the Athenian
families. Platos fathers heritage traced back to Poseidon who was the god of the sea.
Understanding both of these great philosophers backgrounds and where they came from
just proved how much knowledge and greatness that they were raised with. Both
philosophers are probably two of the most famous ones in history.
Its amazing to me that even though Plato taught Aristotle, he still had different
views about certain topics. They didnt agree with each other on everything. For example
Aristotle believed that the universal forms were not attached to each object or concept,
they were something that had to be analyzed alone. While Plato believed that these
concepts had a universal form, which was an ideal form. This is why Plato was so strong
into Idealistic Philosophy. Plato believed that you could prove a concept through thought
experiments and personal reasoning. Aristotle, however was different, he believed that
direct observation and experience would help you to prove your reasoning. Aristotle used
more of a deductive reasoning while Plato used inductive reasoning. Both philosophers
did believe that each individuals thoughts were very superior to a persons senses. But
even on that topic where they agreed, they also had a disagreement. Plato believed that a
person could easily be persuaded and fooled by their senses where as Aristotle said that
these senses are needed in order to define what reality truly is. Now Aristotle had several

points where he disagreed with Plato. Plato believed in something that he called Socratic
Conception of Virtue. He believed that knowledge was apart of virtue. Now Aristotle
believed that virtue is something that may come through years of wisdom. While Plato
believed that virtue was needed for happiness, Aristotle believed that it wasnt necessary
to have a good life. Plato expressed his views more radically then Aristotle did.
Aristotles views were along the line of the Greek society while Platos were on his own
terms and beliefs. If you would look at the way both of these philosophers thought and
believed, in todays society Plato would be considered as someone who believes in God
while Aristotle would be considered as someone who believes in science. At least in
todays society thats what there beliefs would support.
Aristotle believed that arguing was a good thing. He believed that when
somebody would take the time to argue or disagree about a certain topic or issue then that
meant that they were trying to reach truth and understanding. Plato believes that truth is
something that is very ideal. He believed that our thoughts would help us to observe
towards the truth. By pondering and thinking deep, we can come to certain conclusions
about what truth really is, we can find it for our self. Even though Aristotle was taught by
Plato, he found so many faults in what Plato believed. He became Platos biggest critic
but he was inspired by his great teacher. Both Aristotle and Plato based there reasoning
and theories of the belief of knowledge, time, experience, and senses.
They had more differences between them then they had similarities. They both
believed in something that was completely opposite of each other so it made it difficult
for them to see eye to eye on there beliefs because of the background knowledge behind
both philosophers theories. One of there theories that I seemed to find very interesting

was the theory about the soul. Plato believed that the soul was trying to free itself from
the physical form so it could return to being formless. While Aristotle believed in the soul
he viewed that human reasoning was divided into a creative and passive state. That was
another topic that they had disagreements on was about the functions of humans. Plato
said that injustice was rather better then justice. In order to live in a great city each
individual has to do their role. While Plato had more of a focus on the community aspect,
Aristotle believed that it was more of a personal choice, he viewed it more as an
individual task rather then a society. Platos overall goal was to achieve the perfect
society while Aristotle just wants to improve as a society.
Philosophy has a lot to do with wisdom and critical thinking. Knowledge is an
important key in order to truly expand your theories. Plato believed that knowledge is
something that has an appearance and is similar to his theory of forms which Is ideas.
Knowledge is something that is unchanging. However Aristotle believed that the theory
of knowledge was strongly based on logic. Principles of reasoning help determine things
that are true. He believed that experience is what lead to true knowledge. So by going
through trials and having the experience in whatever we may be doing will help us to
obtain knowledge of whatever we may be trying to do. Basically means by practicing
something we eventually can become good at it. Through experiences we can come to the
understanding of what we were trying to learn.
There are obviously far more disagreements then there are similarities. This just
shows how philosophy can really work. When you have your own opinion on something
you become biased and as you continue to study and find reasoning to prove your theory
it only convinces you that your method is right. Thats why in reality we really do

philosophy everyday. We all have our own beliefs and knowledge of certain things. We
feed are beliefs so we are in control of our own reasoning. Thats why philosophy is such
a great thing.
Even though Plato and Aristotle were so opposite in their beliefs they did have
some similarities. Both of these philosophers believed that there was a purpose to mans
existence. They both studied and tried to understand how important ones existence really
was. They also both used their definitions of form to try and overcome any problems or
situations with knowledge. Both of these philosophers were similar in the way that they
were not materialists in the way they viewed the human soul. They both didnt deny the
existence of souls in the bodies of human beings, they believed that the soul helped with
ones identity. They both had a very strong belief and recognized how important it is to
study the existence of souls. They also both believed that the ability to reason was what
set human souls and animal souls apart.
Even though there were very little similar beliefs and views, what they did agree
on was very important topics. The things they agreed on helped their mind to ponder and
to think. When we as humans critically think we can come to the conclusion that our
mind can comprehend more then we think we can. In order to truly exercise our brains
ability we need to ponder and ask ourselves questions that will help us to think and focus.
Focusing on something is what increases our knowledge and thinking capacity. Both
philosophers expressed how important it is to think, they shared many examples and
reasonings behind their opinions on how knowledge and wisdom can be one of the
greatest gifts we can have.

In conclusion I was very appreciative to be able to take philosophy 1000. The

reason why is because it helped me to expand my mind and to think about certain topics
that I probably never would have thought about in my life. It opened my views up about
philosophy and how its a great thing we have. I really enjoyed this class and learned a lot
about critical thinking. I believe that things that I learned in this class will help me with
furthering my education and in my profession. It will help me to truly think and ponder
about certain aspects of my life. If I can continue to expand my knowledge and wisdom it
will only open more opportunities for me. I will always remember that knowledge is the
key to true happiness.