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Bradon Fredrickson
5 December 2015
Philosophy 1000
Teresa Welch
Compare and Contrast Plato and Aristotle
For my compare and contrast paper I have decided to compare Plato and Aristotle.
Aristotle was a student of Plato but they actually like to focus on different areas of
philosophy or I guess even a different way of thinking, or different ideas of philosophy. I
actually like both these philosophers. They do have things in common but they also have
differences. I would like to take a look at these two philosophers to find out exactly what
ways of their thinking was the same and which are different. I would like to start off with
Plato.
Lets start off with a little history or background of Plato. His teacher was
Socrates. Socrates was a very well known philosopher, one of the most influential
philosophers at that. You cant get much better of a teacher than that. Heraclitus,
Parmenides and Pythagoras also influenced much of Platos ideas about philosophy. As I
stated earlier Plato was also the teacher of Aristotle.
Plato wrote down a lot of his work. One of his most famous works is The
Republic. This work is a very influential book in philosophy.
As I had mentioned earlier, Platos teacher was Socrates. He got to view the trial
of Socrates and it didnt sit well with him. He did not like that they put Socrates on trial
for his teaching. He got discouraged with people by the way they acted and the way they
treated his teacher Socrates. This led him to wanting a change. He wanted to make

change by teaching people. Plato wanted to teach people philosophical views in order for
them to become a leader in politics. He didnt necessarily want to get into politics and
change it himself, he wanted to teach people that would then be qualified to go into
politics and would be better leaders. This led to him opening his own school called the
Academy.
Now I would like to give a little background on Aristotle. Aristotles father was a
physician. People think that Aristotle learned basic anatomy and dissection from his
father. This actually plays a big role in his differences from Plato that we will go over
later on. A little later after this Aristotle went and studied at Platos school, the Academy.
When Aristotle was at the Academy he excelled. He became one of Platos best students.
After Plato died another person was named the leader of the Academy rather than
Aristotle. After this Aristotle went and opened his own school called the Lyceum. Now
that we have a little background on each philosopher I would like to go over what they
have in common and where they differ.
Both of these philosophers opened their own schools to teach people their
philosophical ideas. These schools were actually very different though. At the Academy,
Plato focused on different subjects than Aristotle did at the Lyceum. The Academy taught
the students about mathematics, geometry and music. At the Lyceum Aristotle focused
more on plant life and animals. I think this comes from his background. His father was a
physician and taught him anatomy and dissection. I think this would lead him to like that
type of thinking compared to a pure mathematical or logical thinking. The Academy was
focused on more mathematical thinking where as the Lyceum was focused on
anthropological studies.

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Plato wanted to teach his students so that they could go on to be politicians. He
wanted his students be better than the people who were currently in politics. Plato
thought that the current people in politics were self-centered and greedy. He didnt agree
with the politicians in power and he wanted his students to have more knowledge and be
better people than the current politicians. His students that excelled in these logical
teachings would move on and then learn his philosophical views. Plato only wanted the
smartest and best students to go on to learn his philosophical thoughts.
At the Academy Plato only let the aristocratic people come to study. The
Academy was for the rich. Compare this to the Lyceum and Aristotle let more middle
class people into his school. At the Lyceum Aristotle would often teach his students
while walking outside in the trees. These two schools were actually rivals for a short time
but the rivalry died down quickly.
To summarize these two schools Plato taught his students with an emphasis on
mathematics and logical thinking. Aristotle taught his student with an emphasis on
anthropological studies. The Academy was for the upper class compared to the Lyceum,
which took more middle class students. Plato had a goal for his students to go on and be
political leaders and create a better government.
If I had to choose between the two schools I would choose the Academy. I am
going to school for Computer Science. I like working with computers and writing
computer programs. Platos teachings follow that very well. Mathematics is a very big
focus in computer programming so I think I would go to the Academy to get a better
background in those types of studies so it would help me grow in my degree.

Now lets focus on the actual philosophical ideas of Plato and Aristotle. Since
Aristotle is a student of Plato you would think their philosophical ideas would be very
similar and that Aristotle would follow Platos thoughts, but this actually isnt true.
Aristotles thinking isnt exactly the same as Platos, he doesnt necessarily agree with
everything Plato said.
One of Platos greatest or most well known philosophical ideas was the Theory of
the Forms. Plato thought that all objects had a form. A form is basically something that
exists outside of the object that everyone knew of, or had an idea of. Aristotle thought of
this as almost two different realms. One realm we lived in with objects, the other realm
had the forms. When we look at an object we know what that object is because that object
has a form that everyone knows about. For example when we look at a chair we know it
is a chair. It doesnt matter what color the chair is, it doesnt matter if the chair is big or
small, none of that matters. We look at the object and know it is a chair because the chair
has a form. The form of chairness exists outside of the chair. The form is not the
physical object itself, the form exists outside of the chair and everyone knows this form.
That was Platos thoughts on why multiple people can look at an object and know what
the object is even though the object can be different sizes and colors.
Plato also thought there was an order to the forms. He said the highest form was
the form of good. He compared this to the sun. Plato said this form couldnt be described.
Comprehension of the Good is unlike other forms of knowing. It is holistic, not partial.
The soul must deliberately work its way up from the lowest level of becoming to
enlightenment. Experience of the Good so far transcends all other experiences that it

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cannot be clearly described, so Plato uses a comparison or simile to allude to the Good
(Soccio, Douglas J. Page 139).
If we look at Aristotles views on objects and forms, his idea actually differs.
Aristotle does believe that objects have forms but he doesnt think the form exists outside
of the object. Aristotle believed that forms exist within or inside the object itself.
Aristotle didnt believe in another realm or another world that held the forms. He
didnt like the idea of another world or another realm that you cant see. Aristotle
worried that dualism leads to otherworldliness, to a chasm between the actual and the
ideal (Soccio, Douglas J. Page 163). Aristotle stated that the form is inseparable from
the object. He thought that you could imagine them separately but that the object was
truly part of the form. He thought that the only way to distinguish the difference between
the form and the object is mentally. He said you can separate them in your mind, but in
reality they are always together. Aristotle defined form as the essence of the object.
Basically the form of the object is actually what makes the object the object.
To summarize, both Plato and Aristotle agreed that there were forms and objects.
What was different is that Plato thought there was a separate realm or separate world
where all the forms existed. One world or realm is where we live with the objects, and the
other world or realm is for the forms. Aristotle did not agree with this thinking. He
thought the forms and objects existed together in the same realm. He thought that the
form is part of the object and they cannot be separated.
You can see that Plato and Aristotle have many things in common, which I think
is expected since Plato taught Aristotle, but you can also see they have many differences.
They both have things in common but the way they think about those things are almost

completely opposite. Plato was driven to create a better government. He didnt like the
way his teacher was treated by government and he ultimately wanted to change that. He
taught more logical topics and only wanted his teachings about philosophy passed on to
the students who were the best of the best. He wanted his best students to learn his
philosophical thoughts and then wanted them to go on to be leaders. He thought this
would improve the government and improve the city. Aristotle also opened a school but
taught totally different subjects. He also taught different people. He wanted to teach
people but didnt necessarily want them to go on to be leaders. Aristotle was looked at as
a naturalist. He didnt agree with Platos thinking on the forms. He agreed there are forms
but thought they were part of the object. He didnt think there was a separate realm or
separate world that held the forms.
To give my thoughts on both philosophers I actually like both of them. I like the
idea of the Academy over the idea of the Lyceum. That is just my preference though. I
would like to study at the Academy to learn more mathematical and logical teachings.
Those studies would help me with my goals in life. I also like the idea that only the best
of the best students get to learn Platos philosophical views, then they would go on to be
leaders in the government. I wouldnt really want to go on to be a leader in the
government but I do like the idea. I think that any leader we have should have to go
through school and only the best of the best get to go on and learn the more advance
thinking of well known philosophers.
If I had to pick between each of these philosophers views on forms and objects, I
think I would lean more towards Aristotles point of view. The more I learn the more I
realize how much knowledge I dont have. For all I know there could be a totally

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different realm that holds forms, Plato could be correct. If I did have to pick a side though
I would go with Aristotle. I think it is very weird how most people know what an object
is inherently, even though its a different color, or size, or even shape. I dont exactly
know how all people know what a chair looks like. I kind of agree with Aristotle in the
fact that believing in two different realities or two different realms is dangerous. I think
that if people get too obsessed with that thinking it can lead to a dangerous road or
possibly going crazy. To me I like the more natural point of view that the form and object
are together, and there is not a separate realm that separates these two things.
Both these philosophers are very well known and respected philosophers. I think
it is important that we study both of these philosophers. I dont think it is important to try
to found who is right or wrong but more important that we study what they thought, and
how they thought. It should be about gaining more knowledge and looking at different
points of view and considering them both to increase our knowledge and broaden our
points of view so we are not so one sided in our thinking.

Works Cited
Brickhouse, Thomas. Smith, Nicholas D. Plato (427-347 B.C.E.) www.iep.utm.edu.
Web. 28 Nov 2015.
No author named. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.) www.iep.utm.edu. Web. 28 Nov 2015.
Soccio, Douglas J. (2012-01-01). Archetypes of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy.
Cengage Textbook. Kindle Edition.