We know philosophy and philosophers may cause some confusion amoung artisans that don’t want to dwell to deeply into the web of aesthetics and theory. Basically, Plato taught an approach to ideal form based on abstract, universal concepts that lay beyond nature. His student, Aristotle, believed that nature could provide clues to the ideal. Raphael represented these two approaches through his famous gestures by these two great teachers in his fresco The School of Athens. The following article sheds additional light on the subject: http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/a-non-philosophers-guide-to-plato/