A Comparative Essay on Plato’s and Aristotle’s Philosophies on Beauty, Tragedy and Art Essay

The pull roundence of philosophies in he cunning is burning(prenominal) and valu subject because they atomic number 18 to guide and qualify the popular opinions of a somebody. These be dwellfs argon what dictates a case-by-case to consummation as much(prenominal) or to say such(prenominal) subjects. For some(prenominal) of the unstained and complicated philosophies present in the demesne and founded by bang-up thinkers and philosophers, having a doctrine is as simple as having a belief and that belief is what constitutes our actions, words and thoughts. A philosophy can fifty-fifty dictate on what kind of school or job soul would want to go to.In some instances, there comes a time that shallow or inconsequent perceptions of a personal philosophy arises and though it whitethorn seem as thus, it is lock away important to remember and consider that a personal philosophy is important for a p prowessicular personsince it is his or her receive beliefs, therefore it is who he or she is or who he or she wants to be regarded as. No one can deny the fact that philosophies have gone by means of intense and extensive transformation and progress in the worlds history and it is save transforming and changing in the contemporary propagation we have now.From the early ages of the Mesopotamian civilization to the Egyptian kingdoms and to the Ro universes and the Greeks, the branch of knowledge we now splendidly call philosophy have had great origins and greater hatful who made it a take to make their way of intellection or personal beliefs knownSocrates, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli and Nietzsche ar completely some of the few celebrated philosophers with several(predicate) beliefs and different perceptions further which all aimed at the equivalent affairethat is they treasured to explain how social functions spot, how life is and finally, to point come out that there can be a better way of life for everyone have-to doe with.Something as simple and mundane as what is pleasure or what is love is a p ruseistic productionicle accelerator for great amount and efforts of thinking since it aims to process specific things in lifethat is, valet de chambre worlds, how are we as public and how we function? It is nevertheless that in the end, one thing leads to a nonher and we are finally caught up with far to a greater extent difficult, challenging and mixed things.On the otherwise hand, no emergence how complex original philosophies are and no matter how different the philosophers and their beliefs are, one thing remains the samethe philosophers were excellent flock who practiced sharp device and this cognition is what lead them to more(prenominal) profound concerns close things which could have been considered as unserviceable. Literature and craft for example may seem unimportant compared to politics or religion moreover philosophers overly studied and scrutinized them.Thus, it is most likely tha t both literature and art (although literature can be actually considered as an art itself) were probably tremendously influenced by the early examples of the Greek and Roman arts. Therefore, the literature and the art which we are admiring and studying nowadays are all influenced by the offshoots of the token philosophies which the likes of Plato and Aristotle believed inand Plato and Aristotle were only two of the more known philosophers.There are m some(prenominal) a(prenominal) others who actively advocated certain beliefs or their philosophies concerning life and they did it (such advocacy) non just for the pursuance of intellectual development or personal fame provided just because they are in pursuit of something greater for pieceity as a whole. The likes of Aristotle and Plato advocated such philosophies since they believed that it aims for better things as what Ahrensdorf wrotedoctrine, on the other hand, seems to teach that the pursuit of perception through eff ort alone is the great thoroughly for a human universe, that reason is therefore capable of both intellectual the world and of guiding us to blessedness, and thereof that the world is, at the very least, not opposed to our deepest trusts. (p. 151) Thus, though philosophy as a branch of knowledge may be very broad but it also influences many aspects for example, as what was write before, literature and art (which are also two important branches of knowledge) is undeniably influenced by philosophy as well.In this paper, the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle go forth be discussed and will focus on their beliefs almost dish aerial, catastrophe and art. though both great philosophers have great connections and are intertwined with each other, and there are even some vague similarities, their ciphers are hushed astoundingly different and that is what makes it more interesting and intriguing. The Philosophy of Plato Plato was state to be a scholarly person of other great philosopher, Socrates who party favorite Plato among his school-age childs.When Socrates died, Plato was said to be devastated and yet, he being a student of the great Socrates, continued his instructors legacy and became a man of philosophy as well. It is quite perceivable that much of Platos philosophies were offspring of the beliefs of Socrates himself though with many exemptions. Plato was more substantialistic than his teacher and worldlier. Platos judgementls concentrated on order and the ethical than that of Socrates who concentrated on the more metaphysical and immaterial things of life. In Platos philosophies, the definition and function of peach tree, art and disaster, were exemplified and explained.It is through these three aspects of life that we are able to further understand Platos formal thinking about his beliefs. Beauty According to Plato, smasher is and will never be think to the world of arts. In fact, he believes that salmon pink can never be art and a rt can never be graceful. This way of thinking is characterized by his belief that viewer can never exist since if beauty exists consequently it should correspond to the holy definition of beauty. For something to be called elegant it take to justify such term and pita thing or a person cannot be ravishing just because someone says it so or it has the attributes of being attractive.It should instead, exemplify the perfect virtue of being a beauty. to a greater extentover, Plato believes in the knowledge that if something beautiful does exist, then that is the only time that flock can commonly acknowledge that such a beauty exists. Therefore, what we as humans have right now is not beauty but a jumped-up definition or judgement for beautyaccording to Plato that is. (Adajian and Hughes, p. 5) artifice Most illustrious for Platos argument about art is that on the subject of poetry. Plato argues that art are mere representations and are not trustworthy as what an original object is. Art are therefore considered as untrues, illusions and a lie.Art is merely copying things in their original form and aims to portray the fairness of the original form but they would ever lose to its attempts since there is nada more truthful than the original form and nothing more false than art. Platos view on this is most famous for his thrice removed belief wherein artworks present only an appearance of an appearance of what is tangiblely realistic. In simple impairment, there is an nous or division of a person which that person makes into reality or an original physical object but art copies that physical object and is thus, the most middle-level of all.(Adajian) Tragedy Platos regard for cataclysm is not the same intellectual abomination as what he had for the subject of beauty and art in fact, he is more hostile with the subject of calamity as he believes that by portraying the sterling(prenominal) human beings as suffering beings, disaster teaches tha t the world is fundamentally hostile to our aspirations for happiness (Ahrensdorf, p. 156). Plato, together with the dialogue with his teacher, Socrates (or most likely, stir by the beliefs of his teacher) further explains why tragedy is not a correct and erring opinion.This due to the belief that tragedy deceives plurality from the truth and unlike art where imitates or mimics a true Form, tragedy actually changes how we perceive true Form and eventually alters how we perceive things. For example, Homer and other sad poets does not only creates lie with their soft heroes they (meaning the tragedies) also portray delusive ideals about the Greek gods and how people should act regarding their own personal tragedies. Because of these tragedies, people desire disquietude and misery and when tragic things do happen in reality, a persons initial and natural reaction would be either in terror or in misery.Moreover, Plato further explains that because of these tragedies, human beings unreasonably become soft and cowardly by filling them with fear (Ahrensdorf, p. 158). It can be even said that Plato is disgusted with the foundation of tragedy since it fills people with dread about the idea of death and death is something evil. Thus, because of how the tragic heroes are portrayed, the audience or people who watch such tragedies are mistakenly believe that death is something to be feared in conclusion, it makes people cower and weaklings. The Philosophy of AristotleIronically, other great philosopher from Greece is Aristotle who was a student of Plato and who had another great person for a studentAlexander the Great. If Socrates inspired and influenced Plato, it can be the same for Aristotle who was inspired and influence by Plato. If Plato was more concerned with the ethical, Aristotle was more concerned with the scientific and made famous terms which are known today such as the label for matter. More than being a philosopher, he was equally a scientist as wel l and his philosophies and beliefs would in some point, turn and allude to science.Though he was a student of Plato and was influenced by him, his beliefs were far different than that of his teacher. For example, on the ideas of beauty, art and tragedy, he had different ideas compared to Plato. Beauty go Plato believed in the inexistence of beauty as keen-sighted as something actually perfectly beautiful exists, Aristotle believed otherwise. According to Aristotle, beauty exists depending on the things adjoin that object or person. Something beautiful exists because it meets certain conditions of being classified as such and usually, these conditions entirely depend on the things within the vicinity of that object.Moreover, he defined any object as beautiful if it is clearly and accurately beautiful. Thus, if Plato believed in perfect beauty, Aristotle believed in measured beauty. This is not that surprising since he was a scientist and believed in more logical and reasonable conclusions than that of mere thoughtful supposition as what Gaut and Lopes wrote, Aristotle explained in many of his writings like Metaphysics and Rhetoric various allusions and rendering on beauty and how it is measurable and definable This passage appears to assume a definition of beauty in terms of size of it and proportion.So beauty is a real property of things. Aristotle says much the same thing in De Motu Animalum, when distinguishing what is beautiful from what is merely sensed as desirable. Aristotles beauty is real but equivocal. Its meaning derives from the nature of the beautiful thing in question. Aristotle urges his readers to see the beauty of even repellent animals. All animateness things boast a design worthy to the purpose of their sustenance and reproduction, and that is what beauty comes to. (pp. 25 26) ArtPlato is not wholly grow for the subject of art since it is supposedly an imitation and a lie and it can be concluded that Aristotle shares that same b elief. Aristotle defines art as something of a realization, a concept which is used to materialize an original and authorized thought. For example, if something is good, and an art is created to depict the concept of chastity then that particular piece of art is a realization. This can be the same as Platos philosophy as of art as an imitation of an idea but Aristotle argues that, Art however is not limited to mere copying.It idealizes nature and completes its deficiencies it seeks to grind the universal type in the individualistic phenomenon. (The Internet cyclopaedia of Philosophy) Tragedy As opposed to Platos definition and concept of tragedy wherein the poets are the ones who creates the tragedy, Aristotle has very different view regarding the concept of tragedy wherein tragedy is based on the heros very own nature. Based on the Aristotelian beliefs of tragedy, the hero is wholly good and almost perfect. He is strong, virtuous and good.The gods favour him because he is the hero but if in the end, it is discovered that he has a flaw, and then he becomes a tragic hero. just now there is a captious point on why this is the case. Tragic heroes and their low demise exists for one thing and that is to claxon the audience of the feeling of fear and gloominess tragedy, in depicting passionate and critical situations, takes the observer outside the selfish and individual standpoint, and views them in connection with the general megabucks of human being (The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy).