Question Aristotle began studies at Plato's Academy at the age of 17. I have a few questions. 1) How smart was Plato compared to Aristotle? 2) Who would you say is as intelligent as Plato or Aristotle (preferably someone who is still alive)? 3) I am 17. Who can I go to in order to gain the same education that Aristotle did from Plato? 4) How did Aristotle go about becoming Plato's student? Did he have to pay to be his student in the same way people pay to become a student at a college? I pretty much got myself into philosophy, and upon finding out about the greater of ancient philosophers, I have been wondering how I might be able to gain knowledge compared to that of the aforementioned. Is this possible in today's society? Thank you, Steve

Accepted:
April 18, 2006

Comments

If I could just say something about one aspect of your question, I think Socrates, although perhaps not Aristotle, would highly disapprove of the ways in which philosophy is taught nowadays. It was important certainly for Socrates that the philosopher not receive payment for what he provided, since that makes the relationship between the teacher and the pupil basically dishonest. If the pupil/state pays the teacher, then he is going to say whatever he thinks it will be in the interests of his continuing employment or growth in his income to say, whether it is true or otherwise. That is what the Sophists did. If the link between teacher and pupil is based on nothing monetary then both are free to explore the truth in ways that are unconstrained by any other consideration. As we know, Socrates fell foul of another form of sanction, execution, for apparently speaking too freely and generally getting on people's nerves.

However, I would not let this worry you too much, I suggest you go for perhaps the second-best option and take a philosophy course or degree. You may not find the standard quite up to ancient Athens, but we do our best!

Your questions seem to focus on how smart people were (or are), and thus on how you can become that smart.

Maybe you mean something different than I do, when you use the word "smart," but I think the only honest answer one can give to many of your questions is "no one knows, and no one can know."

But I can say that Socrates (and Plato, and Aristotle) would all agree on the best thing you can do to get the best education you can have: Find others who have that same interest, and those credibly reputed to be able to serve that interest, and follow the inquiries that follow where they may. This does happen at universities (and at colleges, in the US--a "college" is not post-secondary education most other places), and I would also pick your college or university in the same way that Aristotle probably did. He found out that the most famous thinkers and educators were at Plato's Academy, and so he wanted to work with--and to think alongside--the best minds. So my advice is: Find out where the best minds are (or at least the best nearest to you, or at places you can be admitted to and afford), and then at those places find the best minds of those who work there to work with--and also find the best ones among your fellow students to discuss and hang out with.

On one point, I tend to disagree just a bit with Oliver Leamon: Ancient Athens was spectacularly good, I acknowledge. But thinkers today have the advantage of thousands of years of thinking that followed, and we now stand on the shoulders of those early giants, and on the shoulders of all of those who followed them. So when Oliver Leamon says that "we do our best," you can be sure that we do pretty well, indeed!