Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T04:11:09.778Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - The Possibility of Natural Philosophy According to Plato I: The Logical Basis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2020

Barbara M. Sattler
Affiliation:
Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Germany
Get access

Summary

Chapter 5 examines the development of the logical basis required for natural philosophy in Plato. In particular it shows how Plato in the Sophist develops further understanding not only of negation and the connection operator, but also, in connection with this, the principle of non-contradiction. These developments allow for connecting Being and non-Being, which is necessary for making sense of motion without falling into inconsistencies. The chapter then examines Plato’s employment of the principle of sufficient reason and the criterion of rational admissibility in the Timaeus. He develops the principle of sufficient reason further by distinguishing for the first time between necessary and rational reasons. And rational admissibility is taken up by Plato in the way used by the atomists: that is, the basic ontological constituents not only have to be testable by our own reason, but they also have to explain the phenomena. These requirements together emerge as Plato’s standards for natural philosophy and cosmology by being the positive criteria an eikôs mythos has to fulfil.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Concept of Motion in Ancient Greek Thought
Foundations in Logic, Method, and Mathematics
, pp. 202 - 244
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×