Plato and Aristotle

Essay # 58080

Philosophy > Ancient Greek
Philosophy > Religion

Plato and Aristotle

An analysis of the philosophical theories of ancient Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle.

1,874 words () | 9 sources | MLA | 2005 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper presents historical background and the philosophical theories of Plato and Aristotle. The paper examines and compares how these ancient Greek masters viewed issues, such as religion, truth, reality, human beings, and existentialism.

From the Paper:

"Although Aristotle believed in the existence of God, his theory about God differs a bit from that of Plato's. In Aristotle's Physics, he theorized that everything is constantly moving and that such movement has no beginning nor end. Thus, there must be an eternal being to "produce the eternal motion" and who is also unmovable. Therefore, God exists as the "Unmoved Mover" (Collinson 24). Aristotle agreed with Plato in that God is eternal, unchanging, and perfect. However, Aristotle added that God is also a person, "since intelligence is the essence of being a person." Aristotle viewed God as one who doesn't produce the motion per se, rather God is one who "does so in the virtue of being the Final Cause of the universe, the ultimate good towards which everything moves" (25)."