Dear Classical Wisdom Reader,

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…

I wonder if that counts paintings?

It makes me think of Raphael’s famed masterpiece The School of Athens. It’s a who’s who of ancient philosophers, with depictions of many of the most celebrated thinkers who ever lived.

And at the center of it are, naturally enough, Plato and Aristotle.

With a gesture from each of them, Raphael distills their respective philosophies as well as their key differences from one another. Plato points upwards, signalling his belief in the Forms, whereas Aristotle holds his hand out flat, illustrating his more materialist worldview.

It’s a neat encapsulation, but it’s also naturally an oversimplification.

If you want to go deeper into the differences between Plato and Aristotle, this week we have an exclusive Members-Only article, looking at how these famed philosophers - who were teacher and pupil - disagreed on the very nature of knowledge itself.

Who was right? We’ll leave that for you to decide…

Check it out below, alongside the rest of the week’s resources!

Classical KIDS

That’s it for this week!

All the best,

Sean Kelly

Managing Editor

Classical Wisdom