My fascination with Plato and Aristotle

There is a lot to be discovered still about the brain, how and why it functions the way it does. Yet, I find something incredibly magical, almost undescribable, about how it produces ideas, thoughts, and insights that we have daily – some new and some old.

Every person on earth goes through life in a trillion different ways and circumstances. Throughout our lives, we take information through our senses, processing that information, and coming up with inferences and patterns that we formulate and express verbally or in writing. We start as naive individuals born to an unknown world in a unique period and grow into wise collective communities of worldly and intellectual people.

Life’s journey is wonderful, yet what captures and pokes at my curiosity most is how a thought or realization that I have today about our lives, relationships, and culture may not be new or as revolutionary as I anticipated. That thought may have been discussed and debated thousands of years ago and resulted in the same output as I thought today.

Over the last 2400 years, our world has changed in radical permutations. Yet the central concepts of how we operate individually, together, and in the community remain unchanged.

There most likely were other people before Plato and Aristotle, yet these two Greek philosophers are the most decorated and discussed. Their ideas and insights are central to our lives today.

Who were they?

Plato was a typical, carefree player from a wealthy family in Athens. He was stuck in his beliefs until he met a man named Socrates. Socrates taught him that the best way to live life was through rational contemplation, which leads to wisdom. This was the most rewarding life one could live.

Plato went on to teach his students that we are all part of something higher, a transcendent reality – though we only see a very small part of it during our time. Yet this reality unites us all into a single harmonious whole. Plato said, “want to crawl out of the cave of darkness and ignorance, and walk in the light of the truth.”

However, Plato’s most intelligent student has a completely different perspective. Aristotle was raised in a family of Greek physicians and learned early the importance of observation and experience. When he disagreed with Plato, he would say, “We don’t live in a cave; we live in reality” and “facts are the starting point of all knowledge.” Aristotle’s view is that we acquire knowledge through logical and methodical discovery of the world around us – piecing together facts to form a clear understanding.

Their differences were clear:

Aristotle	Plato
How does it work?	Why does it exist at all?
How do you fit into the world that already exists?	What do you want your world to be?
Wake up and smell the coffee.	What’s your dream?

Two vastly different world views

These two had two vastly different world views, yet their insights still matter today. Here are some examples

• According to Plato, every human soul has a natural desire to discover higher levels of truth that will improve our lives and the world around us.

• Aristotle believed that the light of truth is found in the material world. He encouraged people to find their place in it and understand it. This made him the father of Western science since he wrote books discussing different fields such as biology, physics, astronomy, and psychology. Furthermore, Aristotle was known for his logical, linear thinking, which contrasted with Plato’s belief in intuitive leaps of imagination.

• Aristotle is the godfather of today’s Internet, entrepreneurial start-ups, and e-commerce. In his book Politics, he wrote that the entire purpose of the society is to enable each person “to attain a higher and better life by the mutual exchange of their different services.” On the other hand, Plato speaks more to those who want to protect the planet, people who see the Big Picture and want to “think globally, act locally.”

• Plato and Aristotle also play a role in our relationships. Oftentimes, we are more compatible with someone who balances out our inner Plato or Aristotle than with someone who shares some of the same interests.

• The long-lasting battle between these two ways of viewing the world has appeared throughout the entire history of Western civilization. It also plays a role in ourselves. This inner struggle between our spiritual and creative side versus our logical and material side causes this tension daily in everything we do.

They were right about so many things in our world. They were not perfect in their output, yet the ideas and insights they contemplated align pretty well with our “modern” society.

While I will continue to have thoughts and realizations about my life experience, I am encouraged by their similarities in my thinking. Revisiting the outputs of these great thinkers and philosophers gives me confidence in our society to grow wiser while not losing touch with the material facts of logic.