Plato & Aristotle Notes

1. Plato
- student of Socrates
- aristocrat (wealthy background)
- his mother married Pericles
- disciple of Socrates
- watched Socrates execution
- left Athens and traveled through Italy and Egypt
- went back to Athens and set up a university called "The Academy"
- taught astronomy etc.
- Aristotle became one of his students
- Plato's stories include The Republic, The Apology, and The Laws
- he invented a mythical city (Atlantis)
- he also invented a place that he speaks of in dialogue as eternal punishment (hell)
- wrote about people's views about the world
- compares life to people in a cave, facing away from the opening, and watching the shadows pass them by
- he believed there were 3 classes: desiring, spiritual, and rational
- desiring always wanted more
- spiritual enjoyed life to the fullest
- rational was educated and very smart
- he believed that if the rational ruled, there would be harmony
- died in 347

2. Aristotle
- disciple of Plato circa 384-322
- more of a scientific guy than Plato
- his father was the personal physician for King of Athens
- moved to Athens at age seventeen and enrolled in "The Academy" for twenty years
- when Plato died, Aristotle left Athens
- he then gets together with the Macedonia King, Philip II
- King Philip asks Aristotle to be the personal tutor of his son, Alexander the Great
- Soon after, Aristotle starts his school "Lyceum"
- its not as formal as "The Academy"
- its a perapedic school and Aristotle's students would follow him on walks for lectures
- starts 2 classes: Esoteric and Exoteric
- Esoteric is private, while Exoteric is public
- he wrote books about metaphysics and ethics
- he made the theory of geocentricity, but was proved wrong by Copernicus
- also he said heavier items fall faster than lighter items, but was proved wrong by Galileo
- did not believe in evolution
- called God a "Prime Mover"
- named earth, wind, fire, and water as the elements
- believed that the soul could leave the body
- believed women could never be excellent, but only intellectual, upper class men could achieve excellence
- called women and children barbarians
- believed women's sole purpose in life was to bare a son

3. Additional Work
Plato and Aristotle's background might have had an impact on their philosophies. Plato was one of Socrates's disciples and therefore that probably had some influence on his philosophies, since Socrates was teaching his believes to his students. One of Plato's ideas was on the topic of tyranny. He believed that if the educated ruled, then there would be harmony. Aristotle's background is that he was a student of Plato, therefore influenced by Plato's ideas. One of Aristotle's ideas was about law. He believed that a perfect constitution consists of half the government making decisions and the other half to be the King's choices.