Aristotle and Plato: A Comparison

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer shows how Aristotle's four causes and Plato's making of the cosmos were both alike and different in many ways. The writer explains that Aristotle wrote much about his four causes, and he was very intent on the fact that these four causes constituted much of what life was about and much of what people needed to understand in order for them to make sense of the world around them. The writer then notes that Plato, on the other hand, used the Timaeus as his discussion point for the creation of the cosmos that he speaks of, which is very similar to Aristotle's causes in many ways, and yet is not the same. The writer compares and contrasts the works, so that it becomes obvious how similar they are and yet how different they are in many ways. The writer concludes that there is much significance in what Aristotle and Plato write about and how they address some of the things that humanity must deal with on a daily basis.

Outline:
Introduction
Artistotle's Four Causes
Plato's Timaeus
Comparison and Contrast
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The third cause, the efficient cause, relates to the actual creation of the object in question. How the object is created and by whom affects the object when it is being created and also when it is finished. There must be some sort of initiating person or thing that starts the object on its way to creation, and this could be almost anything. Aristotle's argument was not that some specific thing or type of thing had to be the efficient cause, only that there must be something to start the creation of the object.
"In the final cause, Aristotle is referring to the reason for which something is done at all. People go to school to receive degrees and get certain jobs, for example, or they exercise to keep themselves in good health. These reasons are final causes. They are the end results and the ultimate reasons that people do things or create things, and they are often the most important reasons that human beings have when they decide that they must do something or make something. The final cause is often the most serious one of the four causes, but according to Aristotle all are important and have significance."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aristotle (1958) Politics. Trans. & Ed. Ernest Barker. London: Oxford University Press
• Plato (1935). The Republic of Plato. Trans. John Davies & David Vaughan. London: Macmillan & Co.
• Plato (n.d.). Timaeus. Trans. Benjamin Jowett Retrieved from http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/tima eus.html

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