Date of Award

6-1925

Degree Type

Bachelors Essay

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Philosophy

Abstract

Presenting a subject as abstract as that of Universal Concepts would indeed be tiresome, were it not for the direct almost personal contact with two of the greatest sages that found their problems and solved them while Philosophy was still in its infancy. Plato and his brilliant scholar Aristotle stand out as radiant figures on a somber background, for they did not think for their own age only. Even today in what is called this modern day and age, frequent reference is made to one or another of their theories. It seems strange that pupil and master should have been at sword’s points, during their lives, concerning the respective merits of their doctrines. The place at which the difference was greatest and the occasion of most of the arguments that marked their companionship, was the subject of Universal Ideas, and their generation. It is with this difference of opinion and the arguments advanced on both Bides that we will be concerned, in this paper. There is no doubt that many flaws have been found in their ancient notions, but when we consider the state of knowledge.at that time and the changes made in the years that followed, it would be strange indeed if they had remained intact. Of the two, it seems' that that of Aristotle’s is the more plausible for it has been subjected to fewer changes than the idealistic dreamworld of Plato. The great philosophers from their time to ours, have used Aristotelian or Platonic doctrines as the foundation for their own theories. This is the most flattering, though, perhaps unintentional, compliment that a philosopher can pay to his predecessors, for it implies that the principle is strong enough to support an innovation. Thus did Plato use Socrates’ theory of the concept, basing Platonic theory on it.

Comments

...being a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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