Rijo Ninan December 4, 1998

Rijo Ninan December 4, 1998
Ms. Purcell-MurphyEuropean History
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Two of the greatest philosophers of all time are Plato and Aristotle. They both had their own views on different subjects. One area where they had contrasting views was politics.
Plato lived from 427 to 347 B.C. and was Athenian. He started a school called the Academy where he taught his philosophy to other people. He wrote two great books, The Symposium which was a book about love and The Republic which was a book on governments and was composed around 374 B.C. He was a pupil of Socrates and carried on some of his teachings. He also wrote his books in dialogue between Socrates and some other of his followers.

Plato’s Republic contains almost all his philosophy on politics. “The aim of the Republic is very simple: to discover what justice is, and to show that it is more beneficial, in a certain sense of that word, than its contrary, injustice,” (Nicholas White 1979, 13). He goes in depth to first discover the meaning of justice. “Ultimately Plato settles on the idea that justice is the harmony that arises when each person is able to his or her own best talent: the artisan to build, the musician to play, and the ruler to govern,” (Greaves, Cannistraro, Zaller, and Murphey 1993, 124). He then goes on to employ this justice in what he calls the Ideal Society. But before he does that, he first defines what makes up a city. “The basis for a state, he says, is the association of people based on need. People aren’t self-sufficient, and they have varied needs. We
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get a state when we have a group of people whose self-interest is far-sighted enough for them to specialize and divide their tasks,” (Julia Annas 1981, 73). So Plato goes in to the fact that everyone must have one job. They must focus on that job and not any other. For if a person does more than one job, they will do it with less success because they are dividing their attention. By only doing one thing, they are able to work better. So, the farmer will farm, the shoemaker will make shoes, and the blacksmith will forge metal. “This is introduced what I shall call the Principle of Specialization, the idea that one person should do one job,” (Julia Annas 1981, 73).
Now that Plato had the groundwork done, he goes on to the specifics of the Ideal Society. First, there are rulers. He says that every society must have rulers but the challenge is seeing who will be best fit to rule. “Since the capacity to rule – that is, to perceive justice in its essence and apply it to the social order – is the rarest of talents, the education of the guardian elite is protracted and difficult. Only those who have demonstrated both the necessary philosophical aptitude to grasp and internalize the nature of forms and the practical ability to apply them to affairs may be entrusted with the responsibility of the state,” (Greaves, Cannistraro, Zaller, and Murphy 1993, 124-125). The rulers are called the Guardians. But they are split in to two groups. There are the Auxiliaries (epikouroi) who are the warriors and the remaining are the Guardians Elite (phylakes). They are to live as commoners. They must not own any private property and have no dealings with wealth.

Page 3 This is so the Guardians do not chase happiness for themselves. Rather that they keep the happiness of the state always first. If they neglect their responsibilities then there is no hope for that state. The Guardians also have the responsibility to keep unity. That means keeping the state in a reasonable size. Growing too large will rip the state apart. They must also not let there be any extremes of poverty or wealth. If one person despises the wealth of another, the state is also doomed. Guardians must also keep the citizens strong and keep them without the want of riches. This will make them better allies than opponents and keep war to a minimum. Then there is the citizens themselves. They have their own responsibilities. They must follow the Principles of Specialization and do one and only one job as to create more efficiency. Then, they must keep their children’s focus on education. They must not sway to games or activities of leisure. Plato says that if education is maintained their is no reason to put restrictions on public behavior, hair styles, or clothes. But if education is neglected, then nothing can save the state. It has a weak foundation and can not survive. “Politicians that spend all their time trying to remedy abuses do not realize that they are wasting their time, because abuses will always recur as long as the citizens are badly brought up and put their own interest before that of the whole society,” (Julia Annas 1981, 103)
Aristotle lived from 384 to 322 B.C. He was a pupil of Plato but rejected his philosophy when he grew older. He was also the mentor to Alexander the
Page 4 Great. He stated that the world is orderly and patterned and focused on the sensible world.

Aristotle’s technique in developing his philosophy on politics was a different than Plato’s. He actually researched the constitutions of 158 different Greek cities. He defined the basic types of government as monarchy(rule of one), aristocracy(rule of minority), and democracy(rule of all). He felt that the best government would be a system that combined the best qualities of both aristocracy and democracy.
Aristotle also envisioned an Ideal Society. He said that it would value leisure over business, peace over war, and virtue over wealth. It would also be devoted to equality. To lead a life of leisure and peace is what every citizen of the Ideal Society must do. “Peace and leisure are superior to war and instrumental activity,” (Abraham Edel 1982, 332). And it is not very easy. It takes lots of education. And he criticized the rest of the Greek world for developing a character that was primarily geared towards war. He most of all condemned Sparta for it was the most military based of all the other city-states. Also, farmers, shopkeepers, and mechanics were left out of the society. He said that their job was to work and could not be people of leisure. He said that this was a job for the Society’s slaves. Which was one thing he supported. He said that it was in some people to rule and some people were just meant to be slaves. His views on women were no different. He stated that they were subservient to men in every aspect and should accept their
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roles. Aristotle also saw education as a very important aspect of the Ideal Society. “Like Plato, Aristotle is convinced of the educative role of laws and institutions, and he grounds educational theory in the analysis of human psychology and the human good…. Thus the goal of education emerges primarily as training for character, citizenship, and cultural activity. Education for character is necessary because even though human beings start with some natural endowment, they have to form habits,” (Abraham Edel 1982, 332).

Plato and Aristotle and two views on politics that were not very similar. Plato based his whole Ideal Society with that of Sparta and a main group in that society was the soldiers. But Aristotle condemned Sparta and all city-states like it. They also had different views on slaves and women. Plato believed that all people are created equal no matter what sex. So he looked down upon slaves and women being inferior to men. But Aristotle’s views were the exact opposite. He said having slaves was part of every society and women had no business doing what men do. But they had some similarities. They both said that education was the foundation of society. They stated that all societies needed a good foundation built with education. They also had rulers in their society. Some people would say that a democracy would be the perfect society. But they both had a system of government where the rulers and citizens had been distinguished.

Plato and Aristotle were both well respected philosophers in their time.

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They both had their ideas and they both had their followers. But while Plato’s ideas were mostly theory, Aristotle put some of his ideas in to action with the help of Alexander the Great. But, maybe if they had tried out Plato’s ideas, the Greeks would have been a stronger civilization as a whole and might not have fallen to Macedonia.