Art History: Discussion of Raphael's School of Athens

In Raphael's "School of Athens", Plato and Aristotle are arguing ideologies in the center of the painting.

Aristotle argues that the truth is in our physical world, while Plato argues that the truth is not found in the physical world, but in the World of Forms, where the physical world is derived from.

If Plato is right, and our world is simply a shadow of the realm of forms, if you go to the realm of forms and see the structure of our shadow world, then Aristotle would be right in saying that there is structure in our physical world, the shadow of the physical world.

The two arguing philosophers are united under a great arch, which symbolizes how their ideas can be united in one form.