Aristotle And Thucydides Similarities
The Classical Greek Political Thought deeply focused on structuralizing the political institutions and perfected the allocation of functions among them. Whereas, Thucydides and Aristotle are two distinct personas who dedicated time to craft what is for them the relative best and grasping the truth for the early city-states. Providing a comparison between two identities requires a thorough research with regard to philosophy in life, technique in constructing arguments, and their contributions to the world, in politics to be exact. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis with regard to the similarities and differences between the two aforementioned names. To argue, the researcher will provide discourse regarding six major
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points that highly emphasizes the differences between Thucydidean and Aristotelian practices namely: justice, democracy and their ideal state, power, human nature and their ideal man. By providing a comparison through contrasting and comparing, this paper will be able to prove that Thucydides’ approach is descriptive based on empirical evidences while Aristotle’s approach is prescriptive that has philosophical foundations.
To start with, Thucydides was an Athenian who belonged to the aristocratic group and was born near Athens around 460 B.C.
(Kreis, 2009). His education primarily shaped the course of his perception and writing skills, hence his book History of the Peloponnesian War. The development of Athens during the middle of the 5th century was, in itself, the best education which such a mind as that of Thucydides could have received (Halsall, 1999). Considering the fact that information about the life of Thucydides is limited, his famous work History of the Peloponessian War which commenced from 431-404, belongs to the limited materials that provided details about him. Toward the end of book 4, referring to himself as the son of Oloros, he tells us that he was a general in 424, stationed in Thasos, off the coast of Thrace (History of the Peloponnesian War, 1998). He subtly revealed his own identity and perceptions through passages in his book. All throughout his life, Thucydides confined himself with the territorial boundaries of Athens rather than exploring the peripheries of it. Aside from the fact that he described city-states only in a limited sense because he has no access for information, he dedicated his book praising the vastness of glory that Athens once
had.
On the other hand, Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was born in Stageira in Macedonia (now Northern Greece), the son of the court physician to the King of Macedonia (Burns, 2009). He was sent to Athens at Plato’s Academy from 367 until about 347 (Waggoner, 1996). His education, through the light of the Plato’s teachings and ideas, has shaped his approach that he applied in his works, Politics and Nicomachean Ethics to name a few. After Plato died, Aristotle returned to Athens to set up his own school, The Lyceum, a rival to Plato's Academy (Mark, 2009). He concentrated on prescribing what is the best life, the best form of government, and the like. Basically, he proposed terms and conditions with regards on how to achieve utopia yet in the most realistic sense he could conceive. Compared to Thucydides, a vast source of information about Aristotle could be acquired because he has a lot of written works whereas the former only wrote a single book.
Thucydides has accepted the main principle of the Hippocratic school of medicine that observation and experience, not philosophical theories or general hypothesis, lead to the discovery of truth (Ehrenberg, 1973). He examined political interactions as to how they happened and based his claims on actual happenings as a way on how he described which one among the existing archetypes is the best. Considering the aforementioned pieces of evidence, Thucydides is a historian and applies a historical approach to arrive at his ends. He was able to discuss every question by presenting an antithesis, or examining a subject from opposite angles (Ehrenberg, 1973). Whereas, through this antithesis, he was able to discover the truth. His antitheses are recurrent in his book History of Peloponnesian War, comparisons of Sparta to Athens and vice-versa are the primary samples.
While Aristotle lies on the opposite end where Thucydides stands because he based his truth on philosophical assumptions. Aristotle utilizes rhetoric while discussing his concerns and what he thinks is the best approach to achieve his ends and the truth. Considering the fact that he was deeply influenced by the political philosophy of Plato, Aristotle himself, is a political philosopher also. Aristotle’s theory of rhetorical arguments, for example, is one further application of his general doctrine of the sullogismos, which also forms the basis of dialectic, logic, and his theory of demonstration (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010). Through his art of persuasion, he presented his arguments with regard to what he accepts as the truth. For him, there are three modes of persuasion (European Rhetoric, 2007) that would make an appeal towards his audience and make them believe him because Aristotle is a man of credibility. His rhetorical persuasions are evident his books, such as those in Politics and Nicomachean Ethics.
points that highly emphasizes the differences between Thucydidean and Aristotelian practices namely: justice, democracy and their ideal state, power, human nature and their ideal man. By providing a comparison through contrasting and comparing, this paper will be able to prove that Thucydides’ approach is descriptive based on empirical evidences while Aristotle’s approach is prescriptive that has philosophical foundations.
To start with, Thucydides was an Athenian who belonged to the aristocratic group and was born near Athens around 460 B.C.
(Kreis, 2009). His education primarily shaped the course of his perception and writing skills, hence his book History of the Peloponnesian War. The development of Athens during the middle of the 5th century was, in itself, the best education which such a mind as that of Thucydides could have received (Halsall, 1999). Considering the fact that information about the life of Thucydides is limited, his famous work History of the Peloponessian War which commenced from 431-404, belongs to the limited materials that provided details about him. Toward the end of book 4, referring to himself as the son of Oloros, he tells us that he was a general in 424, stationed in Thasos, off the coast of Thrace (History of the Peloponnesian War, 1998). He subtly revealed his own identity and perceptions through passages in his book. All throughout his life, Thucydides confined himself with the territorial boundaries of Athens rather than exploring the peripheries of it. Aside from the fact that he described city-states only in a limited sense because he has no access for information, he dedicated his book praising the vastness of glory that Athens once
had.
On the other hand, Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was born in Stageira in Macedonia (now Northern Greece), the son of the court physician to the King of Macedonia (Burns, 2009). He was sent to Athens at Plato’s Academy from 367 until about 347 (Waggoner, 1996). His education, through the light of the Plato’s teachings and ideas, has shaped his approach that he applied in his works, Politics and Nicomachean Ethics to name a few. After Plato died, Aristotle returned to Athens to set up his own school, The Lyceum, a rival to Plato's Academy (Mark, 2009). He concentrated on prescribing what is the best life, the best form of government, and the like. Basically, he proposed terms and conditions with regards on how to achieve utopia yet in the most realistic sense he could conceive. Compared to Thucydides, a vast source of information about Aristotle could be acquired because he has a lot of written works whereas the former only wrote a single book.
Thucydides has accepted the main principle of the Hippocratic school of medicine that observation and experience, not philosophical theories or general hypothesis, lead to the discovery of truth (Ehrenberg, 1973). He examined political interactions as to how they happened and based his claims on actual happenings as a way on how he described which one among the existing archetypes is the best. Considering the aforementioned pieces of evidence, Thucydides is a historian and applies a historical approach to arrive at his ends. He was able to discuss every question by presenting an antithesis, or examining a subject from opposite angles (Ehrenberg, 1973). Whereas, through this antithesis, he was able to discover the truth. His antitheses are recurrent in his book History of Peloponnesian War, comparisons of Sparta to Athens and vice-versa are the primary samples.
While Aristotle lies on the opposite end where Thucydides stands because he based his truth on philosophical assumptions. Aristotle utilizes rhetoric while discussing his concerns and what he thinks is the best approach to achieve his ends and the truth. Considering the fact that he was deeply influenced by the political philosophy of Plato, Aristotle himself, is a political philosopher also. Aristotle’s theory of rhetorical arguments, for example, is one further application of his general doctrine of the sullogismos, which also forms the basis of dialectic, logic, and his theory of demonstration (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010). Through his art of persuasion, he presented his arguments with regard to what he accepts as the truth. For him, there are three modes of persuasion (European Rhetoric, 2007) that would make an appeal towards his audience and make them believe him because Aristotle is a man of credibility. His rhetorical persuasions are evident his books, such as those in Politics and Nicomachean Ethics.