Plato & Aristotle Notes

Plato
Lived from 428 B.C. - 347 B.C.
He was a son and descendent of Kings
He was aristocratic (rich)
His mother married Pericles
He was well-educated
He was a student of Socrates
He was forced to watch the excecution of Socrates in 399 B.C.
He left Athens to travel
When he returned, he created the first university called "the Academy" in Athens
He wrote a lot of dialogues about what he believes
He came up with the idea of Atlantis
He came up with the idea of Hell
He thought that the state should contain 3 parts:

1. Desiring (Lower Class)
2. Spirited (Middle Class)
3. Rational (Upper Class)

People who were in the upper class were well-educated

Some in the upper class who took a position in government had to give up their land, money, etc.

Aristotle

Lived from 384 B.C. - 322 B.C.

He was one of the most famous philosophers and scientists of Athens

His father was a royal physician

He moved to Athens at 17 years old and enrolled at "the Academy"

He became a teacher at "the Academy"

His home was sacked by the Macedonians, so he was not able to go back home after Plato died and the school closed

He took off to Asia Minor and married one of the King's daughters

He moved to the Macedonian capital of Pella and became friendswith King Phillipe II

He became Alexander the Great's personal tutor

He created his own school called "Lyceum" which was a parapetetic school

Alexander the Great died n 323 B.C.

He spent his last year away from school in a family compound and died a year later

He thought of geocentricity which was later proven wrong

He thought of the elements

He thought that denser objects of the same material and size would fall faster than less dense objects, which was also proven wrong

He thought that every species produces its own type (no evolution)

Plato thought that the perfect ruler should be a lover of mankind, which probably started getting into his head when a past ruler ordered the excecution of Socrates.

Aristotle thought women shoudl have equal rights as men throughout each state, which is probably because the rights were so varied depending on who you were and where you lived.