Plato

Plato, student of Socrates, and Aristotle, student of Plato, two of the most influential philosophers to have ever walked the earth, take two completely different approaches whilst talking about the formation of city states and epistemology itself. Plato primarily defined the nature of things in theoretical terms through metaphysics, in contrast to actual terms. Thus by looking to the 'higher forms' he aimed to explain the function of existing knowledge and understandings in the search for the 'absolute truth'. On the other hand Aristotle was more concerned with the actual physical features of nature, for the most part the Natural Sciences. Their different approaches regarding the nature of man, both Plato and Aristotle sought to explain the relationship between the individual and society and furthermore the requirement of government to uphold order and stability. Plato's contributions to science, as that of most other Greek philosophers, were dwarfed by Aristotle's. Plato did write about mathematics, geometry, and physics, but his work was more exploratory in concept than actually applicable. Some of his writings touch on biology and astronomy, but few of his efforts truly expanded the body of knowledge at the time. On the other hand, Aristotle, among a few others, is considered to be one of the first true scientists. He created an early version of the scientific method to observe the universe and draw conclusions based on his observations. Though his method has been modified over time, the general process remains the same. He contributed new concepts in math, physics and geometry, though much of his work was basically extensions or explanations of emerging ideas rather than insights. Plato felt that the individual should subsume his or her interests to that of society in order to achieve a perfect from of government. His Republic described a utopian society where each of the three classes (philosophers, warriors, and workers) had its role, and governance was