# Question for the greek philosophy gurus out there



## sotzo (Jan 10, 2009)

Anyone know a resource that compares the philosophies of Aristotle, Socrates and Plato? Perhaps sort of like a summary table comparison.

Categories within there philosophies of interest in this comparison are:

- their view of Deity
- morals
- epistemology (ie, external world, logic, etc)


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## Rangerus (Jan 10, 2009)

sotzo said:


> Anyone know a resource that compares the philosophies of Aristotle, Socrates and Plato? Perhaps sort of like a summary table comparison.
> 
> Categories within there philosophies of interest in this comparison are:
> 
> ...



Wikipedia?


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## Confessor (Jan 10, 2009)

I would suggest you peruse some history of philosophy, but I'm not sure how much that would detail their religious views.


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## Davidius (Jan 11, 2009)

Socrates never actually wrote anything, so it's hard for us to know exactly what he thought (we only get detailed accounts of him from Plato and Xenophon). To be honest, the same goes for Plato on the account of the nature of his writings, but I think most scholars say that Plato's earlier works represent Socratic thought and that the later ones expound his own views. 

I have not read this and therefore am unable to vouch for its usefulness, but it popped up on an Amazon search: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Philosophers-Socrates-Aristotle-Masters/dp/0192854224/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231650445&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Greek Philosophers: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle (Past Masters): C. C. W. Taylor, R. M. Hare, Jonathan Barnes, Keith Thomas: Books[/ame]

Judging by its table of comments, it looks like something relevant to what you mentioned in the OP. Unfortunately it's only available on Amazon Marketplace starting at $53. Perhaps you could obtain it through AbeBooks.com or a library (don't forget interlibrary loan).

You may just want to read a few of their major works. None of them are extremely long, though they're certainly dense. Check out Aristotle's _Metaphysics_ and _Nicomachean Ethics_, and Plato's _Republic_, _Timaeus_, and _Gorgias_. Read Plato first, since Aristotle was his student and responds to some of his ideas.


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## cih1355 (Jan 11, 2009)

Here is a book that would discuss what the OP mentions:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Philosophy-New-History-Western/dp/0198752733]Amazon.com: Ancient Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy Volume 1: Anthony Kenny: Books[/ame]


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## BrianLanier (Jan 11, 2009)

cih1355 said:


> Here is a book that would discuss what the OP mentions:
> 
> Amazon.com: Ancient Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy Volume 1: Anthony Kenny: Books



Yes, A. Kenny's seriers is excellent. I also have the Medieval one. A good introduction series.


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## steven-nemes (Jan 12, 2009)

My brother found a book by Mortimer J. Adler called _Aristotle for Everybody_ or something like that. I understand Adler is a very good guy to read when it comes to expressing someone's philosophy in a way that is easy to understand and concise. You might be able to find it at a library.


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## PastorTim (Jan 12, 2009)

Philosophy Pages


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## OPC'n (Jan 12, 2009)

Sproul does some teachings on at least some of these fellas. Check out his podcast "Consequences of Ideas". Might find some good stuff there you're looking for.


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