PLATO

The School of Athens by Raphael (1509-1511)

PLATO
• (437 BC – 370 BC)
• Philosopher in Classical Greece
• Founder of the Academy in Athens
• Most pivotal figure in the development
of philosophy, especially the Western
tradition.
• Came from one of the wealthiest and
most politically active families in
Athens
ORM OF THE GOOD
Goodness
• Something that is metaphysical.
• It is beyond experience

Reason
• Somehow clarifies the meaning of
goodness.
• Not perfect
• Capable of committing evil deeds.

A missing trait could make something

“bad”.
UMAN NATURE
Defining Human Nature
• Plato defined humanity in terms of
reason.
• As human beings we have instincts and
emotions but above all the potential to
think, to control our feelings and animal
urges.
• Reason gives us the freedom to choose
how to behave, to be selfish or altruistic,
to act on principle or thoughtlessly.
BSOLUTE TRUTH
Plato Defining “Absolute Truth”

“For everything that exists there are three

instruments by which the knowledge of it is
necessarily imparted; fourth, there is the
knowledge itself, and, as fifth, we must
count the thing itself which is known and
truly exists. The first is the name, the
second, the definition, the third, the image,
and the fourth the knowledge.”

What is just by natural law? What is just by

positive law?
ARISTOTLE

Aristotle and His Pupil, Alexander by Granger (n.d.)

ARISTOTLE
• Greek philosopher and scientist
• Born in the Macedonian city of Stagira,
Chalkidice
• At seventeen/eighteen, he joined Plato's
Academy in Athens and remained
there until the age of thirty-seven (c.
347 BC)
• Taught Alexander the Great
LAW
Law According to Nichomachean Ethics
• supports a virtuous existence
• advances the lives of individuals
• promotes the perfect community

People should employ practical wisdom or

active reason in order to behave in way
consistent with a virtuous existence

Justice
- state of mind that encourages man to perform
just actions
 
Just Actions
- lawful, fair, and virtuous
OLITICAL JUSTICE
Natural Justice
• Higher Law/ Natural Law
• Does not change
• Predominant over human activity
(inherent)
• Common law that is according to nature
• Natural restriction compel judicial and
legislation decisions

Conventional Justice
• Legal Justice/ Positive Law
• Always changing
OLITICAL JUSTICE
Perfect Justice
• Fair equality
• Binding everywhere even in the absence
of communication or contact among
different people.
 
Imperfect Justice
• What is due and proper
• Cannot be general without some kind of
agreement
 
What is due and proper may sometimes be
contrary to what is fair and equal
 
NATURAL LAW
NATURAL LAW
NATURAL LAW
NATURAL LAW
OLITICAL JUSTICE
“If the written law tells against our case,
clearly we must appeal to the universal law
and insist on its greater equity and justice.
We must argue that the principles of equity
are permanent and changeless, and that the
universal law does not change either, for it
is the law of nature, where as written laws
often do change.”
 
OLITICAL JUSTICE
Aristotle believed that everything has a
purpose, and to fulfil that purpose you
should be aware of its final ‘good’.
Aristotle describes the good as human
activity that aims to achieve good.

Happiness
• Achieved by practicing moral virtues
and The ultimate good that we as
humans aim for.
• Achieved with the involvement of a
society because the ‘good life’ is not just
for one, but is for your community. 
BSOLUTE TRUTH
Aristotle Defining “Absolute Truth”
“Now, in the first place, this is evident to those who
define what truth and falsehood are. For indeed, the
assertion that entity does not exist, and that
nonentity does, is a falsehood, but that entity exists,
and that nonentity does not exist, is truth.”

Simply Stated:
Truth is objective and not subjective.  That is, truth
exists outside of ourselves and does not conform
itself to our opinions of it.  For example, no matter
how much I opine that the law of gravity does not
exist, if I jump off of a tall building I will still fall.
https://www.nlnrac.org/classical/plato
https://prezi.com/ggzr66dkkvtl/aristotles-philosophy-of-law/
https://www.quora.com/Did-Socrates-believe-in-absolute-truth
http://paulford.com/philosophy/plato-and-the-nature-of-reality/
http://www.murdoch.edu.au/School-of-Law/_document/WA-jurist-documents/
WAJ_Vol1_2010_Simona-Vieru---Aristotle-and-Aquinas.pdf