|Bust of Plato: Roman copy|
This is an unavoidably sketchy and superficial discussion of two huge topics! If you want to investigate further, you could go to the magnificent Stanford online Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Go here for Plato and here for Aristotle.
PlatoSocrates’ most famous pupil was Plato (427-348), probably the most influential European thinker. Certainly he was the most copied-out philosopher of the ancient world. Unlike his mentor, Socrates, he clearly had great faith in the written word. He was born into an aristocratic family and some of his relatives became prominent politicians, notably the oligarchs Critias and Charmides. He was a philosopher and a mathematician, who introduced the dialogue method of argument. This allows a variety of points of view to be expressed and the reader does not have to agree with the author’s line. Dialogues were not exclusive to Plato. They were written by a number of followers of Socrates, probably because they were imitating his method.
|The archaeological site of |
It was probably not a school in the modern sense as there was no clear distinction between teachers and students, though there was a distinction made between senior and junior members. There is evidence that lectures were given, but the most common teaching method was question-and-answer. Unusually, there were two female students, Axiothea of Phlius and Lasthenia of Mantinea. Aristotle was a member of the Academy for many years but never became its head.
‘charming, anarchic and many-sided constitution’,which bestows a
‘sort of equality on the equal and unequal alike’.He believed that most men were not fit to govern the state. This should be left to the best and wisest:
‘There will be no end to the troubles of states or indeed…of humanity itself till philosophers become kings in this world, or those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers.’The ideal polis should be ruled by ‘the best’, literally ‘aristocracy’, philosopher kings, men (and sometimes women) who trained as Guardians. The Guardians are to have no property and no family ties. They assess couples for breeding purposes and the resulting children are brought up communally so that parents will not know which are their own children. There is to be no private property.
Aristotle (384-322) was not an Athenian. He was born in the town of Stagira in the northeast of Greece and his father, Nicomachus, was a physician attached to the court of Philip of Macedon. He moved to Athens in 367 and quickly became associated with Plato’s Academic circle. He left Athens when Plato died and at Mitylene in the eastern Aegean he undertook a series of zoological and botanical studies that showed his extraordinary powers of observation. In 343 he was summoned by Philip to take up the post of tutor to his son, Alexander. In 335 he returned to Athens. He set up his own school at the Lyceum, named after Apollo Lyceus (the wolf-god), where he had a staff of lecturers to aid him. On hearing of the death of Alexander at Babylon in 323, he moved to Chalcis on the island of Euboea, where he died a few months later. The Lyceum, continued for some time after his death though it is not known for how long.
|An early Islamic representation|