Socrates Plato and Aristotle

Socrates is one of the most renowned philosophers of all times. His dialectic method is used in a number of ways and has vital importance in literature and deliberation. In the contemporary era, Socratic or Dialectic Method is the term that is used to point out a conversation between two or more people who might have opposing views about an issue but they come to a conclusion after trying to understand the opinion of the other party. However, the dialectic method of Socrates "consisted in examining statements by pursuing their implications, on the assumption that if a statement were true it could not lead to false consequences" ("Socrates from The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed."). Thus, Socratic deliberating dialectic method can be considered important as it is discursive and informal and is a reflection of the autonomous conviction that truth billows out of debate.

The Apology by Plato holds imperative significance in the literature of Athenian culture as Plato dedicated his life to continue what was left by Socrates after his death. The ethical problems redefined by Socrates have been refurbished by Plato in The Apology in which Socrates' speech given at the trial (after he was being accused) has been purported. The Apology by Plato is one of the most fundamental documents that reflect the thought and culture of the West due to the strong support of the scrutinized life of Socrates and its criticism of Athenian democratic system.

In The Apology, Plato has been able to successfully recollect and interpret Socrates' Trial. It clearly tells the reader what kind of person Socrates was and what kind of life he lived. The main thing is that Plato has done it by making Socrates the person who tells the whole story by himself. Thus, Plato's Apology is one of those unusual but extraordinary efforts by Plato that have served the purpose of bridging the gap between philosophy and literature in the most graceful manner. It won't be incorrect to state that the Apology "is less concerned with asserting any particular philosophical doctrines than it is with creating a portrait of the ideal philosopher" ("Socrates"). With his life in jeopardy, Socrates has been shown to maintain a cool attitude and demonstrate an unwavering defensive mode during the trial reflecting his living as unquestionably righteous, impartial and honest. Plato has shown how Socrates' speech has been able to serve as an insight, motivation and rationalization for the philosophical thinkers of the coming times. Another reason why this work of Plato is so important is because it serves as a linkage between three valuable Socratic thematic thoughts: These include his irony, inquiry mode and the moral issues that dominated Socrates' life in a predominating manner ("Socrates").

Whereas the significance of Plato is concerned, he is widely acknowledged as one of those prominent philosophers who enjoy highest regard for their exceptional intelligence, imagination and creative intensity. For these reasons of his philosophical efficiency, a number of scholars consider him as the best authority for understanding Socrates. This is the reason why The Apology is considered to be the most priceless source of information about Socrates and his thoughts. Although a number of scholar also believe that Plato has used Socratic thought to further his own ideas, it cannot be denied that Plato is a true creative and innovative philosopher who produced great literature.

A good number of his dialogues carry such originality and innate meaning in their representation of everyday communication and interaction that the person who reads him believes that every writer must write in the same way as Plato does. Thus, Plato has recreated the Socratic conversation in a reciprocal manner by which he conveyed the methods used by Socrates along with the propositions that served as guidelines for Socrates when others were challenged by him regarding their moral values and way of life.

Socratic Method is now generally used in educational strategies employed by teachers to cross-examine their students. On the other hand, what Plato did was to recreate this method and used it more specifically by using it as the beginning and covered a wide range of subjects that were neglected by Socrates ("Socrates").

Aristotle is another name that has gained wide acknowledgment as being another important source when it comes to historical Socratic information. However, Aristotle is totally different in the sense when he tells about Socrates that he "asked questions but gave no replies, because he lacked knowledge; that he sought definitions of the virtues; and that he was occupied with ethical matters and not with questions about the natural world" ("Socrates"). The Poetics by Aristotle is, if truth be told, a response from him to Plato who was also Aristotle's teacher. In this work, he criticized the work of Plato i.e. The Republic in which Plato represented poetry as plain manifestations and outward show that mislead people and make them morally imaginative.

In Poetics, Aristotle takes a completely different standing about poetry that opposes the ideas presented by Plato. Aristotle believes that literary texts act as biological scientists. He demonstrates his fascination of poetry in an excellent manner proposing that poetry challenges intellectual minds and freshens up minds by organization of ideas. He completely disagrees with Plato's idea of banishing poets from the society for a perfect environment. Instead, he gives the conclusion that poets and poetry are needed for the society and culture to survive as art is a form of ethics. Some of the literary terms and meanings we get from Aristotle's "Poetics" are mimesis, catharsis, peripeteia, hamartia etc.

Tragedy has been the main subject of Aristotle's Poetics and he has used the literary terms really wisely in explaining a situation to engage the reader. The historic effect of these terms has been massive as the literary breakdown of the terms in "Poetics" of Plato and the direct judgments made by Aristotle in "Poetics" have completely changed the understanding of poetry composition in the literary landscape.