Pre-Socratic and Aristotles Philosophy - Essay Example

Pre-Socratic and Aristotle’s PhilosophyQuestion 1 Pre-Socratic philosophy had significant influence on Plato’s philosophy, especially his views of ontology. Plato’s philosophy is based on the theory of ideas/forms. Under this school of thought, “ideas” not only represent real objects (ontologically) but also authentic objects. Thus, ideas are the roots of right behaviors in either political or ethical perspectives. Through these ideas, Plato is able to demonstrate the immorality of the soul.

These views are likely to have originated from pre-Socratic philosophers. Ideally, pre-Socratic philosophers denounced the mythological explanation of occurrences. Instead, the philosophers favored logical or analytical approach in their explanation of occurrences (Sproul, 2000). Consequently, Plato’s philosophy was not based on Greek mythology. In addition, pre-Socratic philosophers were inquisitive about the essence of things. For instance, existence, source, and plurality of things were fundamental pre-Socratic questions.

Ideally, Plato’s philosophy attempts or responds to these questions. In conclusions, Plato’s philosophy is a refinement of the pre-Socratic philosophy. Plato’s philosophy supports an ontological dualism, which proposes the existence of two forms of realities/worlds. In this sense, things exist as either ideas or tangibles. Each of this existence represents unique worlds namely intelligible or the sensible world. The intelligible world represents the universals and invisible realities (forms).

Under this existence, things cannot change their state or appearance since they are neither material nor temporal (Sproul, 2000). Thus, the intelligible world preserves eidos and particulars. Indeed, Plato believed that the abstracts are the foundations of the sensible world and that it is only through them that people acquire genuine knowledge. Question 2 Aristotle’s philosophy was established natural science for thousand years. Key to his science is the nature of change and motion. In his philosophy, Aristotle discovered the fundamental principle of change that direct natural bodies.

The principle holds in both the celestial and terrestrial, living and the inanimate. Under the Aristotelian physics, terrestrial objects move towards different part of the universe according to their composition. For instance, earth being the heaviest material, moved towards the center of the universe. On the contrary, ‘fire’ the lightest element tends to move away from the center of the universe. Aristotle concluded that the relative proportion of the four elements (earth, fire air, and water) determines its movement from the center of the universe.

Indeed, Aristotle believed that the earth is at the centre of the universe. Consequently, each of the four terrestrial elements was bound to change. However, celestial eternals elements could not change. For instance, water could be changed into air and hot things could become cold. Aristotle had unique explanations on heavenly spheres (sun, stars, and the moon). Under Aristotelian physics, the heavenly spheres are embedded within crystal spheres that controlled their motion. The philosophy does not explain motion of celestial bodies outside the crystal spheres.

Aristotle believed that God initiated change and the motion of celestial bodies (Sproul, 2000). He believed that God was not bound to change since he was the first to cause any uncaused cause. Thus, God was the foundation of metaphysics rather than a spiritual being who oversees the universe.ReferencesSproul, R.C. (2000). The Consequences of Ideas. Wheaton: Crossway Books.