Compare and Contrast Essay Sample: Plato vs. Aristotle

Plato and Aristotle are famous ancient Greek philosophers who wrote books and articles about different fields of science, humanities, and philosophy. Aristotle was Plato's student; therefore, their ideas and opinions are similar in several ways, but they are different in unique ways. Although people often refer to Aristotle's works more than Pluto's, the two philosophers are highly celebrated in history. This paper seeks to investigate Plato's thoughts in his book, ″The Trial and Death of Socrates″ and Aristotle's in his book, "Politics." Then it will draw the similarities and differences of their opinions using quotes from their books. 

The main character of Plato's book is Socrates, who is a philosopher. He also has a significant contribution to philosophy. Socrates was put on trial because he refused to worship the Athenian pantheon gods, committing impiety and influencing the youth of different beliefs . Plato uses Socrates' story to bring out the essence of self-identification and deities. It is also evident that Plato is against the acts of the Athenian religion, for he says, "If you had no clear knowledge of piety and impiety, you would never have ventured to prosecute your old father for murder on behalf of a servant,” (Plato 19). He portrays Socrates as the fearless man he is;

Socrates' beliefs in truth, justice, and living a good life. Even at his point of conviction, he does not change his stance to please the jury and other people. Socrates says, "The most important thing is not life, but the good life” (Plato 6). Plato also takes his stance that excellence is better than wealth as he says in his book, “For the best possible state of your soul, as I say to you: Wealth does not bring about excellence, but excellence makes wealth and everything else good for men, both individually and collectively.”

In his book, "Politics" Aristotle describes the roles of politics and political community in nurturing a virtuous life in the citizens of a country. Aristotle was a strong supporter of the monarchial type of leadership than dictatorship. He advocated fairness and justice as he believed that leaders were supposed to impact their people positively rather than negatively. According to Aristotle, "Men are naturally political animals." He also talks about slavery, dividing it into two; natural slaves and law-made slaves. He defines nature-made slaves as people who are good at doing something. "For if something is capable of rational foresight; it is a natural ruler or master, whereas whatever can use its body to labor is ruled and is a natural slave" (Aristotle 4). He is against men enslaving anyone that is not a natural slave. According to him, slavery is only acceptable if the person is naturally good at doing whatever he does and enjoys doing it. 

The two philosophers, Plato, and Aristotle, hold firmly onto their philosophical beliefs, and seemingly nothing can change their perceptions. They both believe that philosophy is as important as any other aspect of life. However, the two differ in their points of view about human life; Plato thinks it is better to die than live a bad life. On the other hand, Aristotle treasures human life more than everything else, and he seeks to preserve it by all means. Both philosophers agree that leaders guide their servants to the right path rather than misleading them. They both agree that human beings should also be given the right to self-identify and share their opinions whenever needed.