Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T22:59:28.075Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 2 - The Ensouled Cosmos in Plato’s Timaeus

Biological Science as a Guide to Cosmology?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2021

Ricardo Salles
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Get access

Summary

Plato’s cosmology in the Timaeus can be seen as being framed in biological terms, since it claims the universe as a whole to be a living being, more specifically, a created god. In this chapter, I show that the central assumption that leads Plato to understand the created cosmos as a living being is the idea that the world is as good as possible. In a second step, I want to show that this assumption of the world’s bestness is also responsible for two important twists to the biological framing Plato uses. First, being as good as possible also implies that the world is self-sufficient, which means that many of our common biological notions are of no relevance for an account of the cosmos as a living being. Secondly, I show that while Plato gives an account of all kinds of living beings, his assumption of the bestness of the world leads him to be ultimately interested only in rational living beings. Accordingly, what starts out in biological terms turns into a form of rational psychology and rational theology. This will finally lead to a discussion whether Plato works with a consistent notion of life in the Timaeus.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cosmology and Biology in Ancient Philosophy
From Thales to Avicenna
, pp. 29 - 45
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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
×