Comparing Plato and Aristotle's Acquisition of Ethical Understanding

Comparing Plato and Aristotle's Acquisition of Ethical Understanding

It is almost impossible to have a universal definition of what ethics

is, the only way to really observe it is in practise; how does ethics

shape our lives and how is it acquired? Ethics applies to both us and

the people around us and so is both politically important and

important to the individual. Plato and Aristotle had contrasting

opinions on both what ethics is, how it is useful and who can obtain

it. I have chosen to focus on justice when considering the acquisition

of ethics as I think that the two philosophers treat justice in

increasingly different ways and that its relation to ethics as a

subject allows an easier definition of ethics itself and the

acquisition of it.

Plato founded his Academy in Athens in 387 BC. It was an institution

devoted to research and instruction in philosophy and the sciences and

Plato taught there until his death in 347 BC. Plato had been

disappointed for a long time over the way that politics was used as a

instrument to gain power through corrupt means, rather than an

education both for the politician themselves and for the people. To

remedy this he believed that the men he taught would become statesmen,

having had the moral education necessary to improve the political

leadership in Greece. It was through his disillusionment with his own

country’s politics that he became to realise how important ethics was

in both governing a state and also becoming a good person.

In 367 BC, Aristotle became a student at Plato’s Academy in Athens. At

this point the Academy was highly involved in politics and this

influenced Aristotle’s vie...

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...ocus being on the greatest happiness for the individual

is pursued practically, by the individual themselves, showing ethics

as being innate to the individual. It conclusively makes more sense

why Plato cited the philosophers as the only people who could know

things, as it is assumed that human nature allows us to make ethical

judgements about ourselves and see the consequences of our actions.

However, it would require an exterior knowledge that does not simply

come from our experiences as an individual to be able to decide what

is best for the greatest amount of people. So to conclude I would

argue that Plato and Aristotle only disagree on who would acquire

ethical understanding simply because they cite the use of this ethical

understanding differently and have different aims for the society’s

understanding of ethics.