Who was right? Well, if you believe that reality has a deep structure beyond experience—an unseen logic or metaphysical scaffolding—then Plato. If you think reality is made of process, substance, and immanent causes unfolding through change, then Aristotle.

But maybe both were wrong in thinking we had to choose between a realm of ideal Forms and a world of concrete particulars. Maybe reality is a portmanteau, not a ladder leading up or down.