POSSIBLE ESSAY TITLES
Critically compare Platos Rationalism and Aristotles empiricism
Does Plato or Aristotle make more sense of reality
Asses Platos understanding of reality
Does the world of the forms exist
‘What we perceive are merely shadows’- How far do you agree
Is plato right that there is more to reality than we observe
Asses Platos analogy of the cave
Asses Aristotles four causes
Asses Aristotles belied in the Prime Mover
‘Aristotelian teleology is false’ Asses this view
‘The true reality is accessible only by reason’ Asses this view
Evaluate Platos purpose for the analogy of the cave
Critically compare Platos form of the good with Aristotles prime mover
Aristotelian teleology is outdated- how far do you agree
, COMPARISON ESSAY
INTRO
Who was Aristotle/ what did he think:
- Student of Plato- epistemology based on a posteriori materialist thought: using empirical evidence such as
sense experience to prove his theories
Who was Plato and what did he think:
- 1st great rationalist, a dualist philosopher who believed that the truths of the world can be known though
reason rather than observation- using reason allows us to live the right life, without being carried away by
emotion
My thesis:
- I would argue that Platos philosophy allows for a degree of hope, there is a place where things are better, fits
in with the theist ideas of heaven – neither of their theories are completely convincing but the optimistic
one seems to be the best