The Platonic and Aristotelian Conceptions of the Good

Abstract

Numerous scholars often overlook the disparities in ethical perspectives between Plato and his student Aristotle. This research critically examines whether and how Aristotle's ethical ideas diverge from Plato’s. Contemporary ethicists and pre-modernist ethics generally classify both philosophers as virtue ethicists, whose focus lies primarily on character traits. However, significant differences emerge between Plato's and Aristotle's ethical positions, rooted in their fundamentally distinct metaphysical stances concerning the unity of existence. Aristotle explores this concept in the sixth chapter of the Nicomachean Ethics, where he applies the doctrine to his ethical framework. Plato, in contrast, asserts that all knowledge originates from awareness of a Form, an abstract universal or category in which individuals or species partake. The feasibility of a Philosopher King relies on the existence of a single Form (Being itself) that encompasses all other forms. Consequently, one who possesses knowledge of this Form includes the supreme science that consists of all other forms of knowledge. Aristotle, however, views the universality of existence differently from other abstract universals, rendering it incapable of being the subject of a supreme science, unlike Plato's depiction in the Republic. Comprehending these disparities illuminates the connection between philosophy and everyday life.