Exploring Plato with Aristotle, Part I

Too long had teachers of philosophy contrasted Aristotle against Plato. Though it is well known that Aristotle criticized Plato's teaching of the ideas, and the famous saying "Plato is my friend, but the truth is more my friend" is known by everyone. But it doesn't mean that Aristotle's philosophy should be toto genere different from that of Plato. One should remember a good critique can only come from someone who is familiar with the subject he criticizes and has sympathy towards it. A critique is not a refutation! Nor is it an arrogant dismissal of the ideas one dislikes. This contrast is more a cliché than an earnest preoccupation with their thoughts. Here are some philological indices that the philosophy of Aristotle should be considered as a further development of the Platonic philosophy:

1) the dialectic method of defining
Plato's doctorine of Ideas finds its preparation in the dialogue Menon (80dff) and Euthyphron (6dff), and is officially established in Symposium (208bff.), and considered a solution to the philosophical problems treated in Kratylos (438dff.). Its full developments is to be found in the Politeia (502cff.). The method, with which one reaches the ideas, is the dialectic, as the correct way to ask and answer. This method is also a method of a accurate definition, which can be considered as the origin of the Aristotelian syllogism.

2) the critique Plato's of the sophists
Plato criticized the Sophist Antisthenes in the last part of Theaitet (201dff.) and in Sophistes, the latter was reported to have said: "A horse, oh Plato, I do see well, but I don't see anything like horseness" (testified by Simplikios and Ammonius, Fragmenta 50A-C Caizzi). Diogenes Laertios recorded the scorn of Anthisthenes against Plato's doctrine of ideas. Diogenes documented the Sophismata of Anthisthenes, one of them consists in a careless usage of the word 'is'. This kind of Sophismata are treated by Aristotle in his Topik.

3) the critique of Plato's doctrine of ideas
The famous "third person" argument in Aristotle's Metaphysics is not his invention. It was already made by the Sophist Polyxenos (cf. Alexander Aphrodisias: In Arisotelis Metaphysicorum, 84, 16ff. Hayd.). So even if Aristotle was critical towards the doctrine of ideas, he was just taking his contemporary discussions among philosophers seriously. And I see no reason why a philosopher should be slavishly regarding a certain doctrine while dismissing good arguments made by opponents. So Aristotle's critique of the doctrine of ideas can also be understood as a trial to amend the teachings of Plato, instead of abolishing them, as many believe.

4) Not all students in Plato's Academy were friends of the "Ideas"
Plato mentions the "friends of Ideas" in his Sophistes. They were only a small part of all students, people guesse that the less original followers of the platonic philosophy were among them, for example Speusipp, Xenokrates and Herakleides Pontikos. So Aristotle is not a polemic opponent against Plato. He is an original thinker, and thus it is silly to demand that he follow his teacher dogmatically.

5) Zekl, who translated Aristotle's Analytica Priora, presumes that Aristotle's distance to the doctrine of Ideas is a result of his endeavour to save the doctrine of Ideas from the heavy assaults of the Sophistes (Zekl 1998: LXIV).

(the philological informations above are taken from Zekls preface to his translation of the Analytica Priora).