Knowledge, or the ability to know, is both abstract and concrete in concept. Both Plato and Aquinas agree on the meaning of knowledge. How do humans distinguish the color red as red or a chair as a chair? These distinguished "forms", as Plato and Aquinas would characterize them, are the smallest factions of knowledge, which together, when many physical forms can be identified and differentiated, create a person's knowledge of the physical realm.
             Aquinas spends more time focusing on this aspect of knowledge whereas Plato concerns himself more with intangible and theoretical concepts. Plato writes about the difference between good and evil or beautiful and non-appealing. These distinctions vary according to the individual, but general consensus is met on many issues or subjects. The various ways in which people attain information can account for the differences in opinion about these debatable topics. Plato and Aquinas have conflicting notions on how this knowledge is ascertained.
             Both Plato and Aquinas would agree that the soul is the essence of a human being, a person's source of existence and knowledge. They have their own philosophies on the development of this soul and its level of understanding and knowledge. Aquinas feels that the body acquires information through experience, with no prior knowledge of the event or action taking place. Humans are capable of attaining this knowledge by using their passive and active intellect. The passive and active intellect are generated by sensory experience. They work together to distinguish and hypothesize about certain objects. The passive intellect merely records simple facts and the active intellect processes the meaning and considers the possibilities present. According to Aquinas, all humans endure this same process because knowledge can only be attained by humans, it is not granted to them at birth. Aquinas believes that God is the only being giv
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