Differences between the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle

Plato and Aristotle are probably the two thinkers who have most influenced Western culture.. Even today, a good part of our way of thinking, whether or not we have studied philosophy in schools and universities, has its raison d'être in the works that these two inhabitants of Ancient Greece were developing between the 5th and 4th centuries to. c.

In fact, they are considered the main responsible for the consolidation of Western philosophy.

However, these two philosophers did not agree on everything. The differences in the thought of Plato and his pupil Aristotle they became profound and highly relevant, despite the fact that Aristotle was greatly influenced by his Athenian teacher. Next we will see an overview of what these points of discrepancy were.

• Related article: "How are Psychology and Philosophy similar?"

Differences in the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle

On many issues, these two philosophers held opposite intellectual positions., despite the fact that, whenever Aristotle deviated from the path of his teacher, he tried to formulate his explanations based on Platonic thought.

These main differences between their way of understanding the world that both defended are the following.

1. The position before essentialism

Plato He is well known for establishing a fundamental separation between the world of sensible impressions and that of ideas. The first is made up of everything that can be experienced through the senses and is false and deceptive, while the second is only accessible through the intellect and allows one to arrive at the truth absolute.

That means that for Plato the essence of things is found on a plane of reality independent of objects and bodies, and that the second is a mere imperfect reflection of the first. That essence, moreover, is eternal and cannot be altered by what happens in the world of the physical: the absolute idea of ​​what is a wolf remains despite the fact that this species becomes extinct or dissolves completely in hybridization with dogs domestic.

• You can read more about Plato's Theory of Ideas in this article: "Plato's theory of ideas"

For Aristotle, on the other hand, the essence of bodies (living or inert) is found in themselves., not in another plane of reality. This philosopher rejected the idea that everything true was found outside of what is made up of matter.

2. Belief or not in eternal life

Plato defended the idea that there is life after death, since bodies degrade and disappear, but souls, which form the true core of people's identity, are eternal, as are universally true ideas (mathematical laws, for example). example).

Aristotle, on the other hand, had a conception of death more similar to that of the tradition based on the myths of Homer. He believed that in human beings there are souls, but these disappear when the physical body degrades, with which the possibility of existing after death is ruled out.

3. Different theories of ethics

In Plato's philosophy, knowledge and ethics are elements that are totally linked to each other. For him, goodness and moral perfection are accessed through a progressive approach to the truth, so being ignorant is equated with evil and progressing through wisdom makes us more good.

This idea may seem strange at first, but there is some logic to it if one considers the importance that this philosopher placed on it. led to the existence of absolute ideas: all those decisions that we make outside the truth are erratic and irresponsible.

Aristotle, on the other hand, puts the focus of ethics on the goal of achieving happiness. Consistent with this idea, for him good can only be something that is exercised through our acts and that does not exist beyond them. This idea makes sense, since it eliminates the existence of absolute and timeless truths from the equation. and, therefore, we must do good in the here and now with the resources of those who we have.

4. Tabula rasa or nativism

Another of the great differences between Plato and Aristotle it has to do with the way in which they conceived the creation of knowledge.

According to Plato, learning is actually remembering ideas that have always existed. (because they are universally valid) and our soul, which is the engine of intellectual activity, has already been in contact with them in the non-material world. This process of recognizing the truth is called anamnesis, and it goes from the abstract to the specific: we apply true ideas to the sensible world to see how they fit together.

For Aristotle, knowledge is created from experience and observation of the concrete and, from there, it is possible to create abstract ideas that explain the universal. Unlike his Athenian master, his he did not believe that within us there are perfect ideas and totally true, but we create an image of them from our interaction with the environment. We explore the environment trying to distinguish the false from the true through empiricism.

This model became known as a "blank tabula" centuries later, and has been defended by many other philosophers, such as John Locke.

• You may be interested in: "Plato's Myth of the Cave"