compare and contrast aristotle and plato

Compare and contrast Aristotle and Plato

I . Introduction

Aristotle and Plato are two Greek Philosophers in ancient times and really contribute much in the history of Philosophy . Aristotle (384-322 BC , Greek philosopher and scientist , who shares with Plato and Socrates the distinction of being the most famous of the ancient philosophers Born at Stagira , in Macedonia , the son of a physician to the royal court , Aristotle moved at the age of 17 to Athens to study at Plato 's Academy . He remained there for about 20 years , first as a student and

br then as a teacher . Just like Aristotle , Plato (c . 428-c . 347 BC , Greek philosopher , one of the most creative and influential thinkers in Western philosophy

When Plato died in 347 BC , Aristotle moved to Assos , a city in Asia Minor , where a friend of his , Hermias , was ruler . There he counseled Hermias and married his niece and adopted daughter , Pythias . After Hermias was captured and executed by the Persians in 345 BC , Aristotle moved to Pella , the Macedonian capital , where he became tutor to the king 's young son Alexander , later known as Alexander the Great . In 335 BC , when Alexander became king , Aristotle returned to Athens and established his own school , the Lyceum . Because much of the discussion in his school took place while teachers and students were walking about the Lyceum grounds , it came to be known as the Peripatetic ( walking or strolling ) school . Upon the death of Alexander in 323 BC , strong anti-Macedonian feeling developed in Athens , and Aristotle retired to a family estate in Euboea . He died there the following year (see Barker E . The Political Thought of Plato and Aristotle . New York , 1999

This scrutinizes the differences and similarities between Aristotle and Plato as great philosophers

II . Discussion

A . Works

A .1 Aristotle

Aristotle was a prolific writer . He wrote a vast number of works on a wide range of s . Three ancient catalogues credit him with having written more than 170 separate texts , although it is likely that a significant number of these are false attributions . Like Plato Aristotle published philosophical dialogues . However , apart from a few fragments in the works of later , his dialogues have been wholly lost . He also wrote summaries of the works of other philosophers , and is credited with works on s as diverse as music and optics , and a book of proverbs . Of these , only a few brief excerpts have survived . Still in existence , however , is a substantial body of unpublished writings usually taken to be the material on which courses in the Lyceum were based . These works were collected , arranged , and given titles by later editors , the first of whom was Andronicus of Rhodes , the last head of the Lyceum , who put together and published an edition of them c . 60 bc over 200 years after Aristotle 's death . This edition provided the body of Aristotelian work on which so much of the later history of Western philosophy would be based (see Barnes , Jonathan...