Aristotle and Plato were two philosophers that lived during the 4th century, but that

maintained very different views on the theories of politics and philosophy in general.
Although, “Aristotle with just sixteen years old joined Plato at sixty, in the school teacher’s
“Group of Friends” Aristotle developed his owned ideas while invalidating all of Plato’s
teachings and his arguments against the existence of universals independent of particulars”
(Ancient Landmarks, 2006) such teachings helped an already intellectual Aristotle to make
his own observations and form his own philosophical ideas in views of politics and human
function.
We can then observe such different views illustrated in Raphael’s “School of Athens”
(1501-11; Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican) in this painting their opposite philosophies have
been portrayed in a perpetual representation in which Plato can be seen in higher forms;
while Aristotle is in downward position for all his support in the natural sciences.
These two philosophers with different ethical theories can be spotted as inspiration for
other braches of philosophy as well as for modern theories and studies. One their opposite
theories are the differing views of the human function (ergon) and its role on ethics. We
can observe from Ergo (Ergon: Plato v. Aristotle the Study; 2001) that “Plato has two
important goals in this argument, the first is two disagree with position that injustice is
better than justice, in the other hand his human function argument allows to set-up the idea
of his model cities, in which each person holds a function, and the city prospers whenever
every citizen performs his own function”.
Aristotle instead examines happiness as the eventual ending, and searches for ways to get
to that end. Therefore, by showing that this goodness is found in the expression of reason,
Aristotle can prescribe a way to happiness; In other words “If we fulfill one’s function,
expression of reason, and does so in excellent manner, one will inevitably achieve
happiness” ( Johansen, N. F. (1998 Pg.285).
One more example of these philosophers’ different views is the actual conceptualization of
what the actual human function itself is; for instance for “Plato’s human function can be
identified as deliberation, ruling and taking care of things, “This is much different from the
Philosopher Aristotle and his own idea of the human function which is to develop activities
that are capable of expressing a reason” (Kraut, R. 2007). As we can observe from this
ethical theories they are not only completely different, but they illustrate the gap between
the ways that each philosopher thinks of the actual concept of human function.
We can detect that Plato thinks of his idea in terms of the persons position in society, all of
his ideas of ruling and deliberating belong from a much more individual point of view. He
believes that “Demonstrating reasons in our actions does not relate to anything with a
relationship with those around us, but instead can and should only be always related, to the
individual himself” (Cooper, J. M. 1998). From these two different views we can conclude
that Plato uses his argument to manifest responsibility in the individual, as example the
idea of his model city in which each individual fulfills and complies with their function. In
the other hand we can observe and understand Aristotle and identify how he uses his
argument directly to set up a method to always and beyond it all to achieve good.
Aristotle and Plato also had different views in terms of politics. In this discussion, the stand
point for each theorist becomes a very fundamental feature. We must observe from Plato’s
writings in “The Republic” that he believes that “The ruler who posses understanding of
the good should therefore be the governor of the city state” (Klosko, G. 2006). Plato’s
interest in metaphysics is demonstrated and expressed in his literary work of his political
philosophy with examples of different similes of the sun, the line and the caves and his
theory of forms. As a consequence that Plato’s work and his influence from his beliefs in
metaphysics, his opinions and views are more geared towards theory than to actuality.
In the other side of the coin, Aristotle’s views hold that politics is “The art of ruling a state
and being ruled as a citizen in return” (Sinclair, T. A. 1962). His views in politics try to
delineate a way of governing that would be ideal for an actual state, his views and theories
looked for a balance since he believed that such trait was a necessary element to creating a
stable ruling. We can note that Aristotle’s views are based on his low interest and support
in the metaphysical theories, which in turn make him a more in tune with the modern world
itself and yet at the same time he is far form being modern in bases of his philosophical
concepts.
Aristotle and Plato also had different views in terms of politics. In this discussion, the stand
point for each theorist becomes a very fundamental feature. We must observe from Plato’s
writings in “The Republic” that he believes that “The ruler who posse understanding of the
good should therefore be the governor in a city state” (Laurent, D. J. 2003). Plato’s interest
in metaphysics is demonstrated and expressed in his literary work of his political
philosophy with examples of different similes of the sun, the line and the caves and his
theory of forms. As a consequence that Plato’s work and his influence from his beliefs in
metaphysics, his opinions and views are more geared towards theory than to actuality.
Plato’s theory on politics and government is affected by a direct result of his belief in the
theory of forms, which clearly states that that there is a higher “form” for everything that
exists in the world. Plato believed that each material thing is a mere representation of the
real thing which he identifies as the form. According to Plato “most people are not capable
of seeing the forms they can only see their representations or what he calls their “Shadows”
(Klosko, G. 2006 Pg. 221) as in the one of his similes. He believes that only those who
truly love and appreciate knowledge and consider on the reality of things will be able to
reach the understanding of the forms.
We can observe that Plato clearly believes that only those beings that love knowledge can
reach the truth; which by definition refers to philosophers themselves. This concept has
been taken a step further as per his writings in the “The Republic” in which he states that
“only philosophers should be rulers as they are the ones who truly recognize and embrace
the form knowledge and the real form of good” (Howland, J. 2004 pg.67).
Plato’s reasoning behind his writings can be summarized by exposing his believes that
since philosophers love knowledge, they can reach the good and therefore only those who
truly know and understand the good can do the good, hence they should be the most apt to
rule.
Aristotle, in the other side bases his theory of politics and his opinions on a more political
issue. He reflects upon the idea of the state as a whole, and believes that only those who
fully participate in their government should be considered as citizens of the state.
He therefore excludes workers since they would not have the required time to openly
participate in politics. The ideal state created by Aristotle as opposed to Plato’s is based
solely in the idea of a large middle class that promotes stability, and at the same time
balances the claims and conflicts between the lower and higher classes. He combines
different aspects of democracy with some of the elements in aristocracy. This system
believes that those who work harder should receive more. Another important point is that
citizen’s rule and are ruled in return, insofar as the mixed system permits.
The theories and philosophies of Aristotle and Plato have been around for over fifteen
centuries, and yet today it is hard to find where specifically either philosophy is applied.
This can be observed as a result since our political views now in days, differ from the
ethical theories of both philosophers’. The difference between their states and politics can
be observed as both philosophers’ uphold the benefit of the state or the community above
individual benefit. Today we have a constitution that includes a bill of right that ensures the
rights of each individual in our nation. Both philosophies have helped shape our present,
though by no means mandate our practice. We can conclude that each philosopher is
distinct while Plato relies on metaphysics, Aristotle is more methodical, both theories and
philosophies providing us with great insights in the world around us, and much like today
they will continue to puzzle us for years to come.