Paulo asked:

If you wanted to explain the central differences between Aristotle and Plato, what would you put in a
table?

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Here are some differences. For a start, Plato's writings are poetic and dramatic; he sometimes relies
on myth. Aristotle on the other hand is dry and precise. Compare Aristotle's De Animawith Plato's
Republic.Very very broadly here are some areas in which they differ:

1. Metaphysics

Plato wanted to discover the eternal in and immutable in the midst of all change. He held that eternal
ideas were more real than what we find in nature. The idea of a horse precedes the particular horses
of the sensory world. The particulars are like shadows on a cave wall — shadows of what is real (cf.
the allegory of the Cave in Book 7 of Republic). All things in the natural world are reflections of things
that exist in a higher reality of 'ideas'.

We are able to work out geometrical truths, even if we have not done geometry before because we
are acquainted with their truth before our birth. The meaning of a general term like 'horse' is likewise
captured by our being acquainted with the eternal 'form' horse. Nothing in the natural world exists that
has not first existed in the realm of ideas. The logic of this position is brought out when you consider
what is meant by the word horse? Not any particular horse, but some kind of universal 'horseness'.
Metaphysically the meaning of 'horse' is a the ideal form of a horse of whose nature particular horses
partake imperfectly. So particular horses are only apparent compared with the reality of the ideal
horse.

Aristotle agrees that nothing exists forever — that all is change. He also held that the idea of a horse
is eternal; but the idea of a horse is just one that we form after seeing a number of horses. The ideal
horse thus has no separate existence of its own. Aristotle holds that ideas in the soul are reflections
of natural objects. Nothing exists in consciousness that has not been experienced by the senses first.
He criticises Plato by musing where the form of a horse would come from? Is there a third one of
which the idea horse is a copy?

There is no ideal form or mold from which the things are made; the form of something is simply the
collection of properties belonging to that thing. Forms are therefore in the natural world.

2. Epistemology

According to Plato we cannot have true knowledge of things that always change. We only have true
knowledge of that which is grasped by reason. We grasp mathematics and the forms through the
exercise of reason. The things we see by sense in the natural world are dark and dreary compared
with this world of ideas. We know certain rational truths from before we were born (Meno).

To Aristotle, the highest degree of reality is not what we think with our reason, but what we see with
our senses. we have the innate ability of reason to classify things, but not innate knowledge of them.
Reason is empty without sensory input.

3. Aesthetics

To Plato, art is dangerous and should be banned (RepublicBook10) because it arouses decadent
emotions and subverts reason; it cannot help us understand truth as it is only imitative of reality. It is
thus at a third removed from the true reality of the world of ideas. Art is created by inspiration, not
because the artist knows about what he is depicting (Ion). It therefore has low epistemological value.

Aristotle held art to be edifying through catharsis. Art is philosophical because it deals with universals
— it invites interpretation in terms of the larger conceptions which structure human experience and
understanding. Art represents possible events, so intelligibility depends on plot coherence and unity.
The artist has a rational craft or techne(Poetics).

4. Ethics

According to Plato, wrong action is due to intellectual error. The man who adequately understands
himself acts wisely. Thus the paradox that nobody does wrong willingly.

According to Aristotle, happiness is the key to living a good life. We achieve happiness through using
our abilities and living a balanced life between extremes.

Both Plato's and Aristotle's ethics revolve around the twin notions ofareteandeudaimonia— virtue
and happiness, and so there are certain similarities.

Adam Gatward