Question

Choose two of the following philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, or Rawls. Then, briefly compare and contrast the main themes in their political philosophies. How were their views of the role of government similar? How were they different?

Answer 1

A Compare and Contrast of Plato and Aristotle

For centuries members of the political world have looked at the works of philosophers like Socrates, St. Augustine, Rousseau, and Karl Marx to gain knowledge about different ways to form and create a successful and perfect society. They use the writings of these philosophers to assist them in creating policies, laws, and even speeches. Two of the most notable of these philosophers would be Plato and Aristotle.

Plato one of the most known of all of theGreek philosopher lived from 427 – 347 BC. He was a student of the great philosopher Socrates and was the teacher of Aristotle. According to Brickhouse and Smith (n.d.) he was also heavily influenced by the works of Heraclitus, Parmenides, and the Pythagoreans. His most noted and famous work was the Republic, which was written in 360 BC. Brickhouse and Smith (n.d.) state that this work blended “ethics, political philosophy, moral psychology, epistemology, and metaphysics into an interconnected and systematic philosophy” (para. 3).In this writing, Plato expressed his view and feelings on that the most important part of a successful government would be justice.

Plato believed that society should be divided into three different and separate classes of people. Holung (2008) states that these three classes consisted of the guardians, the auxiliaries, and the workers. These classes were determined primarily by one’s intelligences. Holung (2008) states that the guardians would be the ruling class and would include the king who would be a philosopher, the auxiliaries would be the military, and the workers would be your farmers and merchants. Plato believed that people should think that they were born into the class in which they were a part of. He would do this by using what he called the myth of the metals. In this myth he would state that people were born of the earth and had a set metal mixed into them with gold being the guardians, silver being the auxiliaries and iron being the workers (Holung, 2008). In doing this, he could almost pick and choose what class a person would be a part of, and in turn would not allow people to pick their own leaders allowing for very little to no democracy.

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher that lived form 384 – 322 B.C.E. according to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (n.d.) he was most noted for his contributions to “logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre” (para. 1). He was a student of Plato;however, he had a very different view from Platos when it came to politics.This included his belief in using observations more than theory.

Aristotle views on politics took into account all of the people of a city not just the people who were intelligent or wealth. Holung (2008) states “He believed that the inhabitants of the city are to work together as partners to pursue the common good” (para. 6). This would give all of the citizens of a city a vested interest in what was going on within their government. Holung (2008) states that Aristotle believed that a mix of both democracy and oligarchy were the best form of government. In this form of polity, the people would have some say in how they were led as well as towho their leaders would be. Aristotle also believed that the middle class of a city was the most important class and should be the largest of all of the classes. This was mainly due to that class’s ability to follow reason. Holung (2008) states that Aristotle felt that the lower class was to ignorant how to rule and that the upper classes were ignorant on how to obey authority. This was a large shift from what Plato believed in. Plato believed that only upper class was intelligent enough to have an impact on society.

It is clear to see that both Plato and Aristotle have had an impact on politics and the governments that are in use today. When we look at how different forms of government across the world are constructed we can see Plato’s influence in governments that are ruled by a king. It is also clear that we can see Aristotle’s influence when we look at governments like the United States where its leader is elected by the people.