History

Since the beginning of society, there has been a continuous progress, in a steady timeline of increasing order of the societys organization. However, it is not this kind of progress that was advocated by two famous philosophers, Plato and Confucius (Palmer, Bresler and Cooper, 2003).

The kind of social transformation shown in the theories of the two involves an investigation from societies seen as disordered and barbaric towards societies with order. These are societies composed of gentlemen with values, morals and actions. Plato was a conventional Greek philosopher, while Confucius was a Chinese thinker and a social philosopher. Plato was also Socrates most famous student (Hare, 1982). This paper is a comparison between these two philosophers.

Similarities
Plato and Confucius were focused in ruling and social life in the society. The two philosophers lived in a society that was chaotic, barbaric and disorderly. They were tired of this kind of society and sought to find a solution to the predicaments in their respective societies. They were both thirsting to achieve order in their own societies. Plato was out to rescue Athens by rebuilding the aspect of community that was present in the past. This is the same case with Confucius. They both believed in the indoctrination of individuals so that to have them act obediently and to establish order in the society. The most enduring work of Plato is his dialogue, the republic. This dialogue has been considered as his blueprint for a perfect society. The dialogue discusses the knowledge that is necessary to achieve a perfect society (Hare, 1982).

The two philosophers emphasized on the need for education. Confucius puts emphasis on the significance of studying, while Plato at the age of twenty eight establishes a school. In achieving a perfect society, the education Plato talks about is the physical, mental and spiritual growth of a person. It is the education of the total person (Hare, 1982).

Just like Plato, Confucius is displayed as a transmitter who did not invent anything. Most of the things that Plato knew were taught to him by his mentor, Socrates. The only thing that Plato discovered more or less by himself was the fact that man is born with knowledge. He argues that knowledge is always there, inherent since one is born. Most of Platos work is the dialogues with Socrates and it is through these dialogues that much about Socrates are known. Plato utilizes Socrates style throughout the dialogues. Socratic style takes the format of question-answer. In his writing Socrates would present an argument from both sides so that he could come up with a conclusion. Confucius also uses dialogue in passing the knowledge. The only difference in this is because Confucius uses this method in-person (Palmer, Bresler and Cooper, 2003).

The two philosophers wanted a politically correct system. The philosophy of Confucius put emphasis on political morality, correct social interactions, justice and sincerity. The dialogue by Plato discusses justice, statesmanship, ethics and politics necessary to achieve a perfect society (Palmer, Bresler and Cooper, 2003).

Differences  
Although most of the teachings, ideologies and theories by these two philosophers were similar, they were from separate regions. On of them is thoroughly eastern while the other is thoroughly western. As mention earlier, Confucius is Chinese while Plato is a Greek (Wilhelm, 1931).

Confucius believes in the way to exist in peace and harmony with nature and fellow humans. He believes in compassion that is composed in characters of man. Plato on the other hand believes in achieving justice by force. Both of them believe in justice, but it is only Confucius who trusted that people have morals and ethics and can obey the laws without being forced (Wilhelm, 1931). If only people are treated justly and benevolently by those in authority and thus need peace that is observed by compassionate, moral and ethical leader who is at peace with nature.  

In his understanding, Plato believes that the only way of achieving perfect society is to give the authority to the philosopher-kings. This would reunite power and wisdom (Hare, 1982).  Confucius on the other hand believes in having in place benevolent and morally correct leadership.

Confucius unlike Plato does not believe in fixed classes. This is due to the fact that he had been in and out of power. He had spent a lot of time traveling and seeking employment from the government in order to achieve justice for the people from the rulers and promote a moral example. Plato on the other hand believed in categorizing the society into fixed classes. In his class society, no one is capable of moving from one class to another (Palmer, Bresler and Cooper, 2003).  

Conclusion
These two great philosophers might have originated from different parts of the world but their ideas, theories and teachings were similar in many aspects as already evident. There was a great impact made by these two philosophers in their respective communities. Their works are being studied, not only in their own communities but also in other parts of the world. Theirs are the kind of names that made history and cannot be easily forgotten.