Plato and Aristotle on Morality and Ethics - Essay Example

Plato and Aristotle on Morality and Ethics The ethical and philosophical concerns laid out by Socrates, in his quest of the mysteries of the human mind and his contemplation on nature, has been further expanded upon by his successive generations of philosophers, starting from his direct disciple Plato. Both Plato and his successor Aristotle have pondered over the issues of ethics and morality that concern human beings and govern the functioning of the societies. Both philosophers have viewed ethics, as the highest attainable state of human mind and moral values are the characteristics, which a person should possess to aim at ethical behavior. Socrates was not prone to writing his ideas down. His method was to hold long discussions with his many disciples, most of them from the elite class of Athens. It was a give and take arrangement-the disciples provided for him in return for the knowledge he imparted. Plato, one of his main disciples, wrote all the conversations down, which later became titled Dialogues. The drawback of these writings is that it is not possible to distinguish between the master and the disciple in the conversations. A definition of Ethics can be the systematic study of our values and concepts of good and bad; right and wrong. The word itself comes from the Greek term ‘ethos’, which meant character. It is normally used to refer to a code of conduct expected of men and women living in a particular society and in a particular period of time. Plato maintains eudemonistic ethics, much like other ancient philosophers like Zeno of Elea, Melissus, Critias etc. That is to say, all morality in the society is aimed at human well-being. People have to practise moral values and virtues basically to ensure creature comforts. His dialogues on ethics are based on the human need to be happy and complete; he stresses on the human need for self-completion, which makes them desire for the best and the beautiful and pursue these to the best of their abilities. Presocratic philosphers like Heraclitus and Xenophanes were known for their criticism of the times in which they lived in. They maintained that it was normal for a society to set standards for what was right and wrong, but Socrates went a step further and criticized the individual characteristics of people who lived in his time. His basis for these investigations was his famous dictum ‘ the unexamined life is not worth living’, laid down in Plato’s Apology. One of the approaches to meta ethics has been the treatment of morality in terms of the skeptical philosophy, as advocated by ancient Greek philosopher Sextus Empiricus. This approach denies that moral values are objective and maintain that they are human interventions into society and daily life. This school of thought, called moral relativism, viewed morals as divine, spirit-like interventions which arose out of God’s mind. Socrates’ training prompted Plato to contemplate deeply on reality and knowledge and he delved further into the questions concerning life and ethics. These examinations took him beyond historical discussions entertained by Socrates, but Plato chose to present his investigations as dialogues between Socrates and people who came to meet him. The Form of the Good in Plato’s Republic talks about the highest principle – the principle that everything has the ability to be perfect. Plato was not referring to aesthetic values when he talked about the Form of the Good, but the beauty that is in the mind itself, just waiting to be discovered; this is possible by upgrading your virtues by understanding and accepting the common laws prevalent in a period. Through this book, Plato, based on Socrates’ teaching, designs a society that is devoted to the discovery of the meaning of justice. Since justice was closely connected to ethical concerns in a society and was the end-result of man’s actions, it becomes an important part in Plato’s definition of moral values and ethics. In Plato's Republic, the ideal youth is able to perceive the mistakes of man or nature. He would be able to reject the ugly from his childhood and be an connoisseur of beauty from the beginning. He will receive this beauty into his soul and turn his heart into something gentle. Plato’s ethics and moral values connected with it has been open to much criticism because they have been considered a deviation from the ordinary principles of happiness and well being advocated by earlier philosophers. Plato is often understood as idealistic and rational, like Pythagoras, but much more realistic and less mystical. Plato divides reality into two parts; one the ideal, which is the ultimate reality and the spiritual goal of all humans. The second is the phenomena, which is more about appearances and the way things seem to us, rather than what they really are. Plato perceives happiness as an incomprehensible state of mind, since it is based on preconceived notions that are vague and beyond the realm of human understanding. He considers happiness as something based on metaphysical notions of the human mind. Unlike Aristotle, Plato does not discuss about happiness as an achievement of an independent individual, but investigates the problems that humans face, the part played by the mind in creating those problems and methods of solving them. Plato also advocated an abstinence from the pleasures of the body; he believed that the individual was not more important than the society and had clear duties to fulfill before he can attain self-sufficiency. This is very different from the ethical views entertained by the Pythagoreans, who believed that the body was imprisoned in the soul and death was a liberation to it. The good man must practice temperance and self-examination. The source of being is an all- powerful deity, and the ground of being is number (Hardison, 1977). To Aristotle, immorality is something that comes out because of the irrationality in the human soul. He always stressed on the importance of context in determining the ethical and moral behavior of a person. God is all-important for Aristotle, who sees the Divine as the formal cause of all substances, and the reason for all movement, who stays immovable himself. Ethics for this disciple of Plato, is an attempt to achieve the highest good possible by human nature and beyond this, Aristotle stresses on the importance of linking this highest good to practical human experiences and real contexts and situations. Aristotelian ethics are often called goal-directed or teological ethics. Now if mind is divine in comparison with man, the life of the mind is divine in comparison with mere human life. We should not follow popular advice and, being human, have only mortal thoughts, but should become immortal and do everything toward living the best in us. (NE 10.7). The most important aspect of morality as advocated by Aristotle, is the doctrine of mean described by him. According to this doctrine, moral virtues are the traits one has to develop to regulate desires and negative qualities that spring from the human mind. For example, in response to a characteristic like fear, one has to develop important qualities like courage and determination and counter fear using these traits. “By its nature opposed to the rational principle, which fights and resists that principle. Exactly as paralysed limbs when we decide to move them to the right turn contrariwise to the left, so the impulses of the self-indulgent man's soul move in opposition to the rational principle." (Ethics 26). The most important aspect that distinguishes Aristotle from his teacher Plato and other philosophers of his time is the fact that he was as much a scientist as a philosopher. This gave his musings and thoughts a scientific bend; unlike Plato’s abstract philosophy. Aristotle has ripped apart many of Plato’s principle with a logic and rationality that has influenced the way people analyze things even today. Aristotle defends his system of ethical thought by comparing it with Plato’s ethical philosophies, which stresses on the universal human goodness. Plato’s Forms, Aristotle believed were based on the former’s assumptions of the otherworldly. He criticized Plato’s assumption that the human mind was incapable of contemplating on a particular object and its abstract form at the same time and so, must exist separately. According to Aristotle, it was natural for the human mind to think abstractly. He believed that ‘the fact that a person could separate forms from objects in their own mind didn't necessarily mean that forms existed separately from objects (Book I, Ch. 6). Moral virtues are close to what we would call virtues today. These include justice, agreeableness, liberality, magnificence, gentleness, courage, temperance etc. Aristotle has been often criticized for indecision, because of his seemingly contradictory statements about the merits of a practical life when compared to one of contemplation. It is notorious that Aristotle gives two distinct and seemingly irreconcilable versions of man’s eudaimonia in his Nichomachean Ethics. These offer conflicting accounts not only of what the good man should do, but also what is good for a man to do (Wilkes, 1978). Rorty (1978) writes that ‘ they not only perfect and enhance each other, but provide the conditions for one another’s full development. He (Aristotle) thinks we are endowed with a range of practical and productive capacities as well as the powers of growth, motion, perception and scientific understanding. A full and happy life involves the proper development of these potentialities, actualizing them for our own sakes (Rorty, 1978). Going back to the Pre-Socratic philosophers, their concept of the God and the involvement of God in the issues of morality has oscillated between the concepts change and permanence and God as the most superior religious being. Heraclitus saw everything in the world as transitory and believed change to be the norm, but Parmenides thought that the changes in the world was only apparent; only surface deep. Pythagoreans related this to mathematics and found that certain mathematical principles remained the same, despite the contextual disparities. Plato wavers on God’s superiority and analyzes the notion of God as creator in many of his writings. But Aristotle’s conviction of God as the supreme cause of all things in the world is reflected in his works and looked at God as the pure intellect and the highest form of contemplation. He believed the necessity of having divine intervention for people to live according to the moral values of society. God himself was uncreated, eternal and unchangeable: that is, "perfect" in his being (the opposite of those things that were created, mortal and changeable--and thus "imperfect")--again, just as his teacher Plato had taught (Hodges, 2000). Plato's philosophy assumes that God exists as a supremely good being, but he does not equate goodness with God. He states that God is good and places him at the top of societal hierarchy in his ethical writings. According to Plato, the phenomenal world strives to become ideal, perfect, complete.  Ideals are, in that sense, a motivating force.  In fact, he identifies the ideal with God and perfect goodness.  God creates the world out of materia (raw material, matter) and shapes it according to his “plan” or “blueprint” -- ideas or the ideal.  If the world is not perfect, it is not because of God or the ideals, but because the raw materials were not perfect (Boeree, 2000). Both Plato and Aristotle have stressed the importance of the belief in a supreme being, which creates human beings, but does not contemplate on them, since that would equate them with humans. But at the same time, humans need to contemplate on this Supreme Being, to develop virtuous qualities that will help standardize the ethics in a society. But their approach to the divine differed on many aspects an Aristotle redefined many of Plato’s concepts about God’s interventions in human life. What Plato called idea or ideal, Aristotle called essence, and its opposite, he referred to as matter.  Matter is without shape or form or purpose.  It is just “stuff.” pure potential, no actuality.  Essence is what provides the shape or form or purpose to matter.  Essence is “perfect,” “complete,” but it has no substance, no solidity.  Essence and matter need each other (Boeree, 2000). Aristotle believed that God willed human beings into existence and ensured that he created a desire in them to go back towards God. He termed this desire ‘existential desire’ and said that it was the natural desire for all human beings to be drawn to God, while leading their lives. This desire, according to him, governed their actions in life and consequentially, formed the ethical standards of a society. He maintained that human mind was inextricably connected with God’s intellect and gives men and women the will to live, the enthusiasm to do new things and get inspiration for innovation. When Plato concentrated more on recapturing the teachings and philosophy of his teacher, Socrates, Aristotle went a step further and took to dissecting the ideas laid down by his teacher, Plato. The Greek philosophy, as propagated by these two thinkers, remain popular to this day and has influenced the moral values and ethics that governed the society for many future generations. References 1. Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, in Barnes, Jonathan, ed., The Complete Works of Aristotle (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1984). Section 1 p 7 2. Boeree, G, C. (2000). The Ancient Greeks, Part Two: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Retrieved December 18, 2006 from http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/athenians.html 3. Hardison, O B (1977). Pythagoras and Renaissance. Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol 28, No. 1, p 121 4. Hodges, M H (2000). Aristotle 384 to 322 BC. Retrieved December 16, 2006 from http://www.newgenevacenter.org/biography/aristotle2.htm 5. Mark, A (2006). On Ethics and Morality: Fundamentals of Freemasonry. Retrieved December 16, 2006 from http://www.geocities.com/fmisrael/ethics.html 6. Plato. Republic. 402a 7. Rorty, A O (1978, July). The Place of Contemplation in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Mind Vol 87, No. 347, p 343. 8. Wilkes, K V (1978, October). The Good Man and the Good for Man in Aristotle’s Ethics. Mind Vol 87, No. 348, p 553 9. (2003). Plato’s Ethics: An Overview. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved December 16, 2006 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-ethics Read More

One of the approaches to meta ethics has been the treatment of morality in terms of the skeptical philosophy, as advocated by ancient Greek philosopher Sextus Empiricus. This approach denies that moral values are objective and maintain that they are human interventions into society and daily life. This school of thought, called moral relativism, viewed morals as divine, spirit-like interventions which arose out of God’s mind. Socrates’ training prompted Plato to contemplate deeply on reality and knowledge and he delved further into the questions concerning life and ethics.

These examinations took him beyond historical discussions entertained by Socrates, but Plato chose to present his investigations as dialogues between Socrates and people who came to meet him. The Form of the Good in Plato’s Republic talks about the highest principle – the principle that everything has the ability to be perfect. Plato was not referring to aesthetic values when he talked about the Form of the Good, but the beauty that is in the mind itself, just waiting to be discovered; this is possible by upgrading your virtues by understanding and accepting the common laws prevalent in a period.

Through this book, Plato, based on Socrates’ teaching, designs a society that is devoted to the discovery of the meaning of justice. Since justice was closely connected to ethical concerns in a society and was the end-result of man’s actions, it becomes an important part in Plato’s definition of moral values and ethics. In Plato's Republic, the ideal youth is able to perceive the mistakes of man or nature. He would be able to reject the ugly from his childhood and be an connoisseur of beauty from the beginning.

He will receive this beauty into his soul and turn his heart into something gentle. Plato’s ethics and moral values connected with it has been open to much criticism because they have been considered a deviation from the ordinary principles of happiness and well being advocated by earlier philosophers. Plato is often understood as idealistic and rational, like Pythagoras, but much more realistic and less mystical. Plato divides reality into two parts; one the ideal, which is the ultimate reality and the spiritual goal of all humans.

The second is the phenomena, which is more about appearances and the way things seem to us, rather than what they really are. Plato perceives happiness as an incomprehensible state of mind, since it is based on preconceived notions that are vague and beyond the realm of human understanding. He considers happiness as something based on metaphysical notions of the human mind. Unlike Aristotle, Plato does not discuss about happiness as an achievement of an independent individual, but investigates the problems that humans face, the part played by the mind in creating those problems and methods of solving them.

Plato also advocated an abstinence from the pleasures of the body; he believed that the individual was not more important than the society and had clear duties to fulfill before he can attain self-sufficiency. This is very different from the ethical views entertained by the Pythagoreans, who believed that the body was imprisoned in the soul and death was a liberation to it. The good man must practice temperance and self-examination. The source of being is an all- powerful deity, and the ground of being is number (Hardison, 1977).

To Aristotle, immorality is something that comes out because of the irrationality in the human soul. He always stressed on the importance of context in determining the ethical and moral behavior of a person. God is all-important for Aristotle, who sees the Divine as the formal cause of all substances, and the reason for all movement, who stays immovable himself. Ethics for this disciple of Plato, is an attempt to achieve the highest good possible by human nature and beyond this, Aristotle stresses on the importance of linking this highest good to practical human experiences and real contexts and situations.

Read More