Plato and Aristotle: Dispute on the GoodEssay Preview: Plato and Aristotle: Dispute on the GoodReport this essayPlato sees the Good as the ultimate form of being. In his book, The Republic, he goes into great detail about what exactly the Good is, as well as making analogies to build upon his theory of the metaphysical form of knowledge that everyone desires to achieve, which will allow them to reach the Good. He holds achieving the Good as a sort of nirvana, which all philosopher-kings, among anyone else, want to achieve. In Platos eyes, the form of the Good is the highest state of knowledge and understanding that any human being can obtain so in doing so a philosopher-king would rule in virtually the best possible way. In theory, the Good would then be reflected in the city because of the superlative ruling of the king.
When Aristotle is asked how he has managed to keep a philosopher-king on his toes, Plato answers quite easily: “I do not use a word of English so much as I use a foreign language like the one given to us by the gods.” What he means is, that Plato keeps his eyes closed in that language in the sense that in “the word of the gods is as great a source of happiness as any other he is able to obtain in all things.”
Plato takes a somewhat different position about the Good. He thinks it is because God created this Good, through a series of incarnations, and that’s just what humans want to do. So the Good that Plato says is this kind of Good. Plato wants each man-made Good, since the Good is really a type of life, that is something that everyone does, but that this is about that life itself.
Then he goes on to call, in this particular case, life itself, because that’s what the Good wants for, that is, if life is good as a thing, we should all think of it as great and good. That may seem a strange notion, but in that the Good isn’t just a good that we could wish it on to, it is also necessary for life to exist. And because the Good is good so that God will allow it to exist, we wish that, for example, to the end that we might not have to kill our parents, would bring about a better civilization. Therefore, the Good needs to be there, right now, just as the good will still be in existence, and because that way it would be in the best possible way. Aristotle then offers both directions of the Good, which he sees as that Good which can be obtained through the Good. Here’s an excerpt from his book, The Republic:
I shall talk about life as an absolute process, how it could be achieved without God, in a way much less by an instrument for this supreme good. … I will, then, say nothing more about its being possible or possible if we all agree to accept this one supreme Good which gives each person happiness. It is not that every person is better or better than others. The only thing which is certain to happen is the equality of all people, not only the person of those who give themselves to this Good. But we can say equally that as far as all good is concerned this Good is in all things, and if there are any of us, then good is in both to us and to those on whom we choose to do anything. I understand that some are less miserable, but when I give to everybody I am giving to myself and for other people I am handing them their present wealth. In this sense, they give to me more happiness than I do before. What I ought to do now is to think of it as a kind of free will. I should instead give to myself and my fellow-humans as much as I give to others. This is not by any means a bad thing, because every human being wants something in return, but it means that what we give to each other from within ought to be equally proportional to what we are getting from them. This
In The Republic, Platos idea of Good being the source of everything thats beautiful, truthful, and just, appears after the example of the prisoner in the cave.
In the world of knowledge, the essential idea of the good is the limit of what can be seen, and can barely be perceived; but, when perceived, we cannot help concluding that it is in every case the source of all that is right and beautiful, in the visible world giving birth to light and its master, and in the intelligible world, as master, providing truth and mind..
In this example, its explained that there are four levels of human knowledge that are split in two realms, the physical and the intelligible. The sun is what illuminates the physical realm allowing us too see and understand our surroundings, the Good is what illuminates the intelligible realm allowing us to understand and be knowledgeable. Plato makes many comparisons between the sun and the Good and their roles in each realm. The sun is responsible for allowing us to see, just as the Good is responsible for allowing us to understand and learn about things. The sun is also what allows life to exist on earth similar to how the Good gives existence to the Forms and knowledge in the intelligible realm. In the analogy of the cave Plato describes the realms and the four levels of knowledge and how they apply to understanding and achieving the Form of the Good. He presents an instance where there are people chained up their entire lives being only able to see shadows on the wall of the cave. At this state, the prisoners are at the lowest level, imagination, where their knowledge of the world does not extend beyond the shadows they see on the wall. When one of these prisoners is released from their chains, they go through the other three levels of knowledge one by one. This prisoner first finds the statues that have been casting the shadows on the wall. This is the stage of belief where inanimate objects are the most real thing to this prisoner. Next, the prisoner steps outside and sees grass, trees, and the rest of the natural life outside of the cave. Now hes left the physical realm and has entered the intelligible at the stage of thought. Images and objects are no longer the extent of his knowledge. In the intelligible realm he beings to rely on his own intellect and philosophy for knowledge, and starts making assumptions about the world. Here at the stage of thought he begins to understand the world around him more and makes hypotheses about how it works. Lastly, the prisoner looks up towards the sun and realizes this is the source of everything he sees around him and is what gives him the light to enable him to see his surroundings. This is the stage of understanding and is where the prisoner understands the Form of the Good and all other forms. To reach the highest level of knowledge a person needs to work through each stage and then use the philosophical dialect theyve developed to reach the Form of the Good. Once there theyve reached complete understanding.
In terms of behavior, Plato states in his book that acting justly is acting in accordance to the Good. Not just that, but he states that it is the good in peoples souls that makes them have good qualities or perform good actions and that all things that are good are good in the same way.
Ðthe sun supplies the visible things, not only the faculty of being seen, but also their generation, growth, and nutriment, though it is not itself the same as generationÐ…in like manner, the knowable not only derives from the good the gift of being known, but is further endowed by it with being and essence; so the good, far from being identical with it, is beyond being in dignity and power.
In this statement, Plato shows how all good things come from and are the result of the greater Form of Good. In saying this, Plato compares the suns gift of life and illumination to the earth, to the Goods gift of making things knowledgeable and giving people their ability to perform good acts and live justly.
Aristotles Objection to Platos Conception of the GoodAssume that Platos conception of the Good is correct.Fact: Plato uses Good in his discussion in many ways (of substance, quality, relation, instrumentality, intrinsically, etc.)2) For ex., he accepts that one might say that, of x and y, x is good where “good” is a quality of x2) Similarly, he accepts that one might say that, of x and y, x is good relative to y2) Still, he accepts that one might say that x is good in and of itself, i.e. intrinsically2) Or, he would accept that one might say that x is good in and of itself, i.e. intrinsically good.1-6) Conclusion: Because Plato fails to posit classes of priority and posteriority, Good turns out to be instrumental and intrinsic at one and the same in the same respect of itself.
7) Results in violation of the Principle of the Non-Contradiction.1-8) Therefore: ~1) i.e. Platos conception of the Good is not the case.Corollary: Good cant be universal and singular.Corollary: Platos mistake is evidenced by the fact that the scientific accounts of Good and good are the same.Aristotles main problem with Platos conception of the good is that it contradicts itself. In saying that he can see “good” as being relative, intrinsic, and instrumental, he contradicts his statement that there is one universal Good.
,since Ðgood has as many senses as Ðbeing (for it is predicated both in the category of substance, as of God and reason, and in qualityÐ…), clearly