Aristotle and Plato's Philosophical Views

Sophists

• Practical aim: teaching, accepting payments
• Protagoras (481 BC):
  • Drew up a constitution for the Panhellenic colony of Thurii in 444 BC
  • Accused of blasphemy for his book on the gods, escaped to Sicily where he drowned
  • Believed "Man is the measure of all things"
  • Pioneer in the study and science of grammar
• Prodicus of Ceos:
  • Wrote a treatise on synonyms
  • Argued that death is desirable to escape life's evils and that fear of death is irrational
• Gorgias (483-375 BC):
  • Ambassador of Leontini to Athens in 427 BC
  • Led to skepticism by dialectic Zeno, published "On Not Being"
  • Proposed philosophical nihilism: nothing exists, or if it does, it can't be known or communicated
  • Rhetorical art: mastery of persuasion, emphasis on effectiveness over truthfulness
  • Emphasized the art of justifiable deception
• Thrasymachus:
  • Argued that might makes right, justice serves the stronger, not the weaker
  • Reducing morality to power

Socrates

• Last days recorded in Plato's dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo
• Influenced by Anaxagoras' emphasis on rational order in nature
• Believed "All I know is I know nothing"
• Integrated inductive arguments and universal definitions
• Focused on particular justice:
  • Distributive: state divides goods among citizens
  • Remedial: justice according to arithmetical proportion
• Viewed friends as self-love, with friendships motivated by utility, pleasure, or goodness

Aristotle

• Reason distinguishes humans from animals, enables contemplating truths, making decisions, and pursuing virtue
• Living a good life (eudaimonia) involves using reason to develop virtues like courage, justice, and wisdom
• Influenced by Plato's metaphysics and religious teaching
• Believed the universe is the object of science

Metaphysics

• Science of first principles or first causes
• Wisdom par excellence, seeking knowledge of reality's ultimate cause and nature
• Substances composed of matter and form, with essence, existence, and telos (end, purpose, or function)
• Metaphysics studies unchangeable substance and being

Aristotle's Ethics

• Teleological: happiness is the end of life
• Virtue leads to eudaimonia
• Intellectual virtues conducive to knowledge, moral virtues lead to well-being
• Virtue is a mean state, without excess, and involves practical wisdom
• Concept of justice: universal justice equivalent to obedience to law

This quiz covers the philosophical ideas of Aristotle and Plato, including metaphysics, causes, and the nature of reality. It also explores their influence on each other's thoughts.