Philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses, compares and contrasts the philosophies of the three Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. According to this paper, each believed that one could fulfill one's optimal function as a human being only within the company of others, and therefore as an integral part of human society.

From the Paper:

"Socrates is wise enough to know what he does not know, and to question what others think they know (which infuriates others, thus, as Plato clearly implies, Socrates' predicament of being on trial). In his first speech of the Apology, Socrates recalls a journey he took to the Delphic Oracle, where the Oracle had declared no one wiser than Socrates. Subsequently, Socrates, in questioning poets; politicians; artists, etc., found that "those who had the highest reputation were nearly the most deficient, while those who were thought to be inferior were more knowledgeable" (Jowett, The trial and death of Socrates). Similarly, within the courtroom scenes of the Apology, Socrates' prosecutor Meletus is clearly uninterested in truth, but instead (like many prosecutors of public trials, yesterday and today) in gaining a conviction and pleasing the public. Socrates' accusers are, similarly, less interested in truth than in exacting revenge for Socrates' past pursuit of it, and in rendering Socrates no longer a threat. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Apology." Wikipedia. Retrieved April 2, 2006, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Apology_%28Plato%29.html.
• Aristotle. Nicomachean ethics. W.D. Ross (trans.). The internet classics archive. Retrieved April 2, 2006, from: http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/ nicomachaen.html.
• Jowett, B. The trial and death of Socrates. London: Dover ThriftPublications, 1992.
• "Plato." Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved April 2, 2006, from: <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato/html.
• "Plato." Wikipedia. Retrieved January April 2, 2006, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato.html.

More papers on Philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle:

• Comparison Essay # 129840 : "The Philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle"
• Comparison Essay # 99571 : "Socrates, Plato and Aristotle"
• Essay # 4701 : "Plato's Philebus: The Problem of the One and the Many"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: