Are the Forms more real than the things we see?
Plato and Aristotle
About 350 BCE. The master and his most brilliant student walk the grove of the Academy.
Moderate this debate out loud in the Yuga app.
Plato
PlatoThe student of Socrates who wrote the cave allegoryc. 428–348 BCAbout seventy-seven, head of the Academy he founded.
Their position, as they argued it
Yes: the Forms are eternal and unchanging, the things we see are passing copies of them, and true knowledge is knowledge of the Forms.
Aristotle
AristotleGreek philosopher who tutored a young Alexander the Great384–322 BCAbout thirty-four, Plato's student for nearly twenty years.
Their position, as they argued it
No: there are no Forms apart from things; the form is in the thing itself, and knowledge begins with what we observe.
Where this is documented
Plato, Republic and Parmenides; Aristotle, Metaphysics, book I
In the app, each figure argues from their own writing and the historical record, and every turn shows whether it quotes them or reasons in their spirit. The figures are AI recreations, not the people themselves.