The Student of Plato and Aristotle - Alexander the Great

The Student of Plato and Aristotle - Alexander the GreatPlato and Aristotle are ancient philosophers whose writing and the wisdom they embody has long been recognized by humans, but many have assumed that these two men were the creators of democracy. It is clear that the qualities that make for a democracy can be traced to Plato and Aristotle.Plato and Aristotle to serve as guides for their students as they reflect on the past and evaluate the present. Plato and Aristotle help students to understand how to make wise choices in order to benefit society as a whole. Their wisdom is appreciated by our history's best thinkers such as Aristotle, Socrates, and Machiavelli.Aristotle is the source of much of our modern day wisdom about how we govern ourselves, how we choose our leaders, and how we choose our laws. The virtue of wisdom is often equated with power in many circles. Power corrupts, therefore, it is important to guard against becoming too much of a leader and becoming corrupted.It is from Aristotle's writings that the 'democratic system' developed. In this system, the people play a major role in governing themselves. Many consider democracy to be an oxymoron because it means that the majority rules over the minority. However, democracy is designed to make sure that the minority has a voice in governing as well as allocating the governing power.In order to succeed in building a democracy, Aristotle recognizes that he must first identify the nature of the people. As the philosopher states in one of his dialogues, he says:'For what I wish to know is the character and the general nature of the people; for it is the people who will govern, whether they will or no.' It was his belief that by studying the general nature of the people, he could better determine the nature of government that would work best.It is important to note that Plato and Aristotle are two different forms of Republican government. Although both share many similarities, they were different phil osophies. They represented different theories about the nature of government.In our current time, those who advocate for Republican ideals find themselves divided on what type of government would work best for us. This is where Aristotle comes in.