Plato Vs Aristotle

...

ZHUANG 3

judge what is correct and what is wrong. The knowledge of virtue also should come from reason, not from perception. Plato argues that an individual can only acquire some ambiguous and inaccurate knowledge of virtue if he allows perception to dominate his thinking process.

The knowledge of virtue cannot be taught directly, yet one can be influenced by virtuous behaviors in his life. Plato believes that virtue is like one’s mother language. A person never needs to learn his mother language on purpose because he can learn it when he uses it. This idea also applied to knowledge of virtue. Teachers should not give students lectures on how to act virtuously; instead, they should lead students to find out what is virtue.

In Plato’s opinion, happiness can be found through the pursuit of four virtues: temperance, courage, prudence and justice. Temperance requires self-discipline and self-regulation, and one with temperance is usually humble and respected. Plato believes that, although a person can be very powerful, his power is still limited comparing to mother nature. Temperance is the foundation of virtue, and it maximizes happiness in life. Courage is one of the virtues because the brave warriors are admired and respected in ancient Greece. Plato concludes that courage is not equivalent to impulsive action. Courage allows people to become perseverant and brave; thus, it is counted as one of the virtues. Prudence is another important virtue in Plato’s opinion. In fact, he thinks that prudence is the most important one. Plato thinks that prudence can lead people to acquire other virtues because it can help people

make correct decisions and balance between each virtue. The final part of Plato’s theory of virtue is justice. Justice plays an important role in Plato’s idea of utopia. In a country that is ruled by justice, every citizen will be treated equally, and pursuit of happiness will be done successfully.

ZHUANG 4

Plato is Aristotle’s teacher and mentor; however, Aristotle’s definition of virtue is not completely the same from Plato’s. There are some similarities, yet there are also some differences between the two definitions.

Both Plato and Aristotle believe that virtue comes from practice. Virtue can be taught, and to be virtuous is a consistent process in one’s life. Aristotle agrees with Plato’s idea that virtue is a form of knowledge. Aristotle acknowledges that intellectual virtue, which is knowledge of virtue, can aid an individual to approach his goal in a virtuous way. Both of the philosophers agree that the pursuit of happiness should be the ultimate life purpose, and both of their definitions of virtues are based on the pursuit of happiness. The starting point of their definition is similar.

Another similarity can be found is that they all agree that the virtue only exists in society. All four virtues, according to Plato, temperance, courage, prudence and justice are all valued and respected by society. This is similar to Aristotle’s opinion that virtue is coming from demand of the society. Both philosophers agree that different societies or different countries will have different definitions of virtue.

One of the major differences between Aristotle’s definition and Plato’s is that Aristotle does not agree that virtue is solely knowledge. Unlike Plato who holds the opinion that virtue

is completely coming from one’s knowledge, Aristotle comments that virtue also should be moral. With this being said, Aristotle concludes that there are two types of virtue: moral virtue and intellectual virtue. Aristotle thinks that intellectual virtue only gives people the best approach to reach their goals; however, moral virtue can ensure that their goals are actually virtuous.

...