Augustine And Plato's Views Of Plato And Augustine

Every individual’s worldview is shaped by their experiences and beliefs; therefore, everyone is different. Even though Plato and Augustine were both philosophers, their worldviews differed greatly. Plato spent his life in Athens as an influential leader in both politics and religion. Since Socrates was his mentor, the majority of what Plato taught was centered on Socrates’ philosophy. Apart from being well-known as a student of Socrates, Plato was also known as an excellent writer of philosophical dialogues. In contrast, Augustine was born in Thagaste, a province of Numidia in North Africa. His Christian faith proved to play a major role in his philosophical teachings. While Plato’s worldview was more materialistic, Augustine’s worldview was …show more content…
Both Plato and Augustine believed justice to be a prominent virtue. In Plato’s time, the majority argued that it was reputation that mattered and not the actual act of justice, and that justice itself was burdensome. To Plato, justice was practiced not as a burden, but practiced so “that anyone who is going to be blessed with happiness must love both because of itself and because of its consequences” (Plato, Republic, 358a). Augustine’s view of justice was similar; however, his take on injustice differed. While Plato did not see injustice as extremely problematic, Augustine disagreed, stating, “It is better to suffer than to commit injustice” (Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, 85). Augustine does not believe any part of injustice is acceptable, while Plato believes injustice to be “naturally good,” stating, “To do injustice is naturally good and to suffer injustice bad. But the badness of suffering it far exceeds the goodness of doing it” (Plato, Republic, 358e). Augustine views committing injustice to be worse than suffering injustice, whereas Plato believes suffering is much more …show more content…
Furthermore, philosophers are seen to be more intelligent. In his famous Allegory of the Cave, Plato explains these beliefs using a short story. He gives his answer to the reason for people’s existence—to attain knowledge and become wise. The people are ignorant in attaining knowledge as described in the story. In his story he argues that among the prisoners, the one to escape and seek the realm of light is the representation of a philosopher. Plato believes that philosophers are superior in intelligence, and therefore philosopher-kings should rule over