Big D little d - The Demiurge God in Plato's Timaeus (original) (raw)
Book Proposal for: Bound by Goodness, Ruled by Reason: Plato's Theology and the Foundations of his Cosmology Theology constitutes both the core content of Plato’s cosmology and a key metaphysical foundation for Platonic cosmology as such. To put it another way, when Plato seeks to describe the most essential structures and functions of the sensible world he gives an account of gods; when Plato seeks to explain how it is possible for there to be perpetually beautiful, rational, and living divinities in a sensible world of otherwise constant and unstable generation and destruction, there too his answer looks to god. This book attempts to develop and detail an accurate and coherent account of Plato’s theology and to identify the several philosophical problems Plato devised it to address. It carefully reconstructs his views about the various kinds of entities identified by him as gods, their relationships to one another and the universe as a whole, and the roles they serve in his overall worldview. Such a study is very much needed, for while interest in Plato’s theology has been steadily growing, no full-length, systematic treatment of the subject has been written in English. This is the first book of its kind to give a thorough treatment of all the relevant texts from across Plato’s corpus; to examine all the relevant features or “parts” of his theology: the World-soul and other cosmic souls, “Nous” (i.e. reason or intellect), the Demiurge (Craftsman), the Form of the GOOD; and to attempts to organize the interpretation of all of these into a new, coherent narrative situating Plato’s theology centrally within his late thought. Moreover, while several good books and articles have been written on the subject, nearly all the work that has been done on Plato’s theology for the last 80 years has recapitulated or offered only minor variations on one of the same three or four inadequate interpretative schemes, all of which were developed before the Second World War. Thus progress on the topic has been at a standstill for more than three quarters of a century. This book offers to break this deadlock and to offer a novel interpretation by resolving the central dilemma over Plato’s theology that has made fully coherent and well-motivated interpretations impossible. To do so, it rejects the identification of the Craftsman god (Demiurge) of his Timaeus and other dialogues with “Nous” (reason or intellect)—an identification that is the common, shared assumption of all of the unsuccessful contemporary interpretations as well as of nearly every historical interpretation of Plato’s theology in the long history of its reception. While I am proposing to do away with an interpretive orthodoxy, the result is a clearer view of the Demiurge, Nous, and their respective key roles in Plato’s late metaphysics and cosmology. Table of Contents PART I – FOREGROUND AND BACKGROUND Chapter 1. Introduction to Plato’s Theology: Themes, Questions, and Methods Chapter 2. The Ancient Quarrel: Traditional Greek religion and its philosophical critics PART II – IMMANENT THEOLOGY Chapter 3. The Goals of Plato’s Public Theology Chapter 4. The Implementation Problem and the Panpsychic Solution Chapter 5. The World, the World-soul, and other cosmic gods PART III – TRANSCENDENT THEOLOGY Chapter 6. The Demiurge is the GOOD Chapter 7. The Demiurge is not Nous Chapter 8. Pre-panpsychic Intellect?: Cosmic Intellect and the World-soul in the Philebus PART IV – INTERSTITIALS AND INTERCESSORIES Chapter 9. Culture-Heroes, Daemons, and the Gods of Tradition Conclusion
Oxford University Press + The New Alexandria Library of Texas , 1928
This Super Rare Commentary provides a scholarly and in-depth analysis of one of Plato's most influential and complex dialogues. As a professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the British Academy, Taylor brings to the work a combination of philosophical insight and historical rigor. The commentary begins with a thorough investigation into the authenticity of the dialogue, addressing questions of authorship and its attribution to Plato, followed by an analysis of the date of composition, situating Timaeus within the broader context of Platonic thought and its philosophical development. Taylor outlines the general plan of the dialogue, examining its structure and the themes of cosmology, metaphysics, and the nature of the universe, while drawing attention to Plato's unique approach to explaining the origins of the world and the role of divine intelligence in its creation. The commentary also explores the relations of Timaeus to other dialogues, highlighting how it fits within the overall trajectory of Plato’s philosophy, especially in relation to works like The Republic and Phaedo. In addition to the philosophical content, Taylor provides subsidia—valuable resources and references—to aid in the study of the dialogue. This includes proposed divergences from Burnet's text, where Taylor offers critical amendments and alternative readings to the established interpretation of Plato’s work, contributing to ongoing scholarly discourse. The book concludes with detailed notes and indexes of personal names and Greek words, which serve as invaluable tools for scholars and students seeking to navigate the linguistic and historical complexities of the text. Taylor’s commentary is an essential resource for those seeking a deeper understanding of Timaeus, its philosophical implications, and its place in the history of Western thought. In essence, Taylor’s Commentary on Plato's Timaeus is not only an exegesis of Plato’s cosmological vision but also an exploration of the textual and interpretive challenges that continue to shape the study of ancient philosophy. TAGS RELATED TO BOOK BELOW: Plato, Timaeus, A. E. 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THE TIMAEUS in The Platonic Mind (Edited By Peter D. Larsen, Vasilis Politis)
The Platonic Mind, 2024
This chapter offers some thoughts about Plato’s cosmological likely myth (eikōs muthos) in the "Timaeus". After briefly characterizing the doctrinal and narrative contexts of Timaeus’ discourse on the origin of the universe and its organization by a divine craftsman, the premises on which the entire cosmological myth is based are analyzed. Then, Timaeus’ final deduction of the universe’s properties is examined, specifically: (1) the universe is the best possible image of an intelligible model constituted by a divine craftsman (the Demiurge); (2) the Demiurge bestows order upon a pre-cosmic chaos by endowing it with the properties of a being composed of a soul and a body; (3) the model of the universe is the Form of the living being; (4) the universe is unique; (5) the body of the universe is composed of the four elements (fire, air, earth, and water); and (6) each of its elements is constituted by two basic triangles. Finally, it is argued that Timaeus’ discourse should not be understood as a pure sequence of deductions but that by allowing the reader to follow the Demiurge’s footsteps, it offers an imaginative experiment that admits alternative conclusions and different possible combinations of the premises introduced.
An Examination of the Metaphysics of Creation in Plato's Timaeus
The physical world we live in speaks volumes of a changing nature, but deep underneath there is a great sense of constancy. Even though the utmost goal of every human being is to be happy, man has perpetually lived between two parallel poles in this life. There is a glaring presence of beauty and order which man cannot enjoy. Humans are faced with the problem of explaining the presence of order and beauty which cannot be enjoyed to the fullest. It is based on this difficulty that this study attempts a philosophical examination of the metaphysics of creation of Plato's Timaeus to delineate between human nature and its attainment of unity through human conduct. The study adopts the historical, expository, and evaluative methods for analysis. The study discovered that no matter how hard human beings pursue their desires, they are bound not to be happy. Happiness is the goal of human life that is achieved when individuals look out for the happiness of the whole. It also reveals that each individual is a microcosm of the universe and for the whole world to be happy, everyone must think of the other. The study concludes that justice and truth are mere worlds, but can be achieved in this life if we follow the natural law in our actions.
When Plato discusses the World-soul, cosmic intellect (nous), and the Demiurge, he approaches them theologically, i.e. as being the subjects of an account of the nature of the gods, but few works in the last half-century or more have addressed the ‘players’ in Plato’s theology as such. The major strata in the hierarchy of divine beings were referred to in the Neo-Platonist tradition as “hypostases”. My question is this: between intellect, the World-soul, the Demiurge, and even the Forms how many hypostases did Plato posit, what were their nature, and what overall functions did they play in his philosophical system? I analyze Plato’s various accounts of those divine things that are immanent in the world of change (e.g. the World-soul) and those that are said to be transcendent intelligibles (e.g. the Forms and the Demiurge) in order to determine what Plato’s gods are and what roles they play in his system. While I examine the entire Platonic corpus, I focus on Plato’s late dialogues, in which theology and cosmology receive considerably more extensive and significant treatment than they do in his earlier works. My central texts are the Philebus, Timaeus, and book X of the Laws, supplemented secondarily by the Phaedo, Phaedrus, Republic, Sophist, Statesman, and Epistle VII. I also make cautious use of the testimony from Aristotle regarding Plato’s so-called “unwritten doctrines”. The invention of the World-soul is revealed to be Plato’s way of instantiating intellect in the cosmos in order to suit the demands of his natural and moral philosophy, while his esoteric account of the Demiurge resolves any tensions between his immanent theology and his metaphysics, and suggests, semi-literally, the role that timeless, intelligible goodness plays in organizing the sensible world of change. Supervisors: Charles Kahn and Susan Sauvé Meyer
Plato’s Timaeus and Catholic Metaphysics
In light of the Timaeus, I will assess Eusebius of Caesarea’s claim that Plato “has attained the porch of [Christian] Truth”. 1 In analysing this claim, I will expose and then evaluate the more obvious parallels to Christian doctrine and metaphysics that can be found in the Timaeus. My conclusion is that I share Eusebius’s wonder of Plato. I am astounded at the consistency with which Plato arrives at the same conclusions as Revealed Christian doctrine, especially in his marvellously Christian metaphysics, the attributes of God, and his ordering and origins of the cosmos and his belief in the singularity of the Demiurge as creator God