Part of the series on: The Dialogues of Plato

Early dialogues:

Apology – Charmides – Crito

Euthyphro – First Alcibiades

Hippias Major – Hippias Minor

Ion – Laches – Lysis

Transitional & middle dialogues:

Cratylus – Euthydemus – Gorgias

Menexenus – Meno – Phaedo

Protagoras – Symposium

Later middle dialogues:

The Republic – Phaedrus

Parmenides – Theaetetus

Late dialogues:

Timaeus – Critias

The Sophist – The Statesman

Philebus – Laws

Of doubtful authenticity:

Clitophon – Epinomis

Epistles – Hipparchus

Minos – Rival Lovers

Second Alcibiades – Theages

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Timaeus (Greek: Τίμαιος, Timaios) is a theoretical treatise of Plato in the form of a Socratic dialogue, written circa 360 BC. The Charmides ( Ancient Greek:) is a Dialogue of Plato, in which Socrates engages a handsome and popular boy in a conversation about the meaning of The Crito (IPA; in English usually) is a short but important Dialogue by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Euthyphro is one of Plato 's early dialogues dated to after 399 BCE. The First Alcibiades or Alcibiades I, a dialogue featuring Alcibiades in conversation with Socrates, is ascribed to Plato, although scholars Hippias Major (or What is Beauty) is one of the dialogues of Plato. Hippias Minor (or On Lying) is thought to be one of Plato 's early works In Plato 's Ion ( Greek:) Socrates discusses with the title character the question of whether the Rhapsode, a professional performer Laches, also known as Courage, is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato, and concerns the topic of Courage. Lysis is a dialogue of Plato which discusses the nature of Friendship. Cratylus ( Greek: Κράτυλος is the name of a dialogue by Plato. Euthydemus (Euthydemos written 380 BCE is dialogue by Plato which satirizes the Logical fallacies of the Sophists. Gorgias is an important Socratic Dialogue in which Plato sets the rhetorician, whose specialty is persuasion in opposition to the Philosopher The Menexenus (Greek Μενέξενоς is a Socratic dialogue of Plato traditionally included in the seventh tetralogy along with the Greater Meno is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. Written in the Socratic dialectic style, it attempts to determine the definition of Virtue Plato 's Phaedo (ˈfiːdoʊ Greek: Φαίδων, Phaidon) is one of the great Dialogues of his middle period along with Protagoras is a Dialogue of Plato. The main Argument is between the elderly Protagoras, a celebrated Sophist, and The Symposium is a philosophical dialogue written by Plato sometime after 385 BC The Republic ( Greek: / Politeía, meaning "political system" Latin: Res Publica, meaning "public business" or The Phaedrus ( Greek: Φαίδρος written by Plato, is a dialogue between Plato's main Protagonist, Socrates, and Phaedrus an Parmenides is one of the Dialogues of Plato. It is perhaps Plato 's most challenging dialogue The Theætetus ( Greek: Θεαίτητος is one of Plato 's dialogues concerning the nature of knowledge. Critias, one of Plato 's late Dialogues contains the story of the mighty island kingdom Atlantis and its attempt to conquer Athens, The Sophist ( Greek: Σοφιστής) is one of the late Dialogues of Plato, which was written much later than the Parmenides The Statesman, or Politikos in Greek and Politicus in Latin, is a four part dialogue contained within the work of Plato. Philebus (often called The Philebus) is among the last of the late Socratic dialogues of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. The Laws is Plato 's last and longest Dialogue. The question asked at the beginning is not "What is law?" as one would expect- that is the question The Clitophon (also Cleitophon) is a dialogue generally ascribed to Plato, though there is some disagreement regarding its Authenticity The Epinomis ( Greek:) is a dialogue in the style of Plato and traditionally included among Plato's works The Epistles of Plato are a series of thirteen letters traditionally included in the Platonic corpus The Hipparchus is a dialogue attributed to the classical Greek philosopher and writer Plato. Minos is one of the dialogues of Plato, featuring Socrates and a Companion Rival Lovers ( Greek:) is a Socratic dialogue included in the traditional corpus of Plato 's works though its authenticity has been doubted The Second Alcibiades or Alcibiades II is a dialogue ascribed to Plato, featuring Alcibiades conversing with Socrates, Theages is one of the dialogues of Plato, featuring Demodocus, Socrates and Theages. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Socratic dialogue ( Greek Σωκρατικός λόγος or Σωκρατικός διάλογος) is a genre of prose literary works developed in The work puts forward speculation on the nature of the physical world. It is followed by the dialogue Critias. Critias, one of Plato 's late Dialogues contains the story of the mighty island kingdom Atlantis and its attempt to conquer Athens,

Speakers of the dialogue are Socrates, Timaeus of Locri, Hermocrates, Critias. A dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog) is a reciprocal Conversation between two or more entities. SOCRATES is the European Community action programme in the field of Education. Timaeus of Locri ( Latin: Timaeus Locrus) was a Greek Pythagorean Philosopher living in the 5th century BC Hermocrates ( Ancient Greek:) was a general of Syracuse during the Athenians ' Sicilian Expedition. Critias is also a work by Plato see Critias (dialogue. Critias ( Greek, 460-403 BC born in Athens son of Callaeschrus was Some scholars have argued that it is not the Critias of the Thirty Tyrants who is appearing in this dialogue, but his grandfather, who is also named Critias. The Thirty Tyrants (30 τύραννοι or οἱ Τριάκοντα were a pro- Spartan Oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian ^[1]

Introduction

The dialogue takes place the day after Socrates described his ideal state. In Plato's works such a discussion occurs in the Republic. The Republic ( Greek: / Politeía, meaning "political system" Latin: Res Publica, meaning "public business" or Socrates feels that his description of the ideal state wasn't sufficient for the purposes of entertainment and that "I would be glad to hear some account of it engaging in transactions with other states" (19b). ^[2]

Hermocrates wishes to oblige Socrates and mentions that Critias knows just the account (20b) to do so. Critias proceeds to tell the story of Atlantis, and how Athens used to be an ideal state that subsequently waged war against Atlantis (25a). Atlantis (in Greek,, "island of Atlas " is the name of a Legendary Island, first mentioned in Plato 's dialogues Critias believes that he is getting ahead of himself, and mentions that Timaeus will tell part of the account from the origin of the universe to man. The Universe is defined as everything that Physically Exists: the entirety of Space and Time, all forms of Matter, Energy The history of Atlantis is postponed to Critias.

Synopsis

Nature of the physical world

Timaeus begins with a distinction between the physical world, and the eternal world. The physical one is the world which changes and perishes: therefore it is the object of opinion and unreasoned sensation. The eternal one never changes: therefore it is apprehended by reason (28a).

The speeches about the two worlds are conditioned by the different nature of their objects. Indeed, "a description of what is changeless, fixed and clearly intelligible will be changeless and fixed," (29b), while a description of what changes and is likely, will also change and be just likely. "As being is to becoming, so is truth to belief" (29c). Therefore, in a description of the physical world, one "should not look for anything more than a likely story" (29d).

Timaeus suggests that since nothing "becomes or changes" without cause, then the cause of the universe must be a demiurge or God, a figure Timaeus refers to as the father of the universe. Demiurge (the Latinized form of Greek demiourgos, δημιουργός, literally "public or skilled worker" from demos And since the universe is fair, the demiurge must have looked to the eternal model to make it, and not to the perishable one (29a). Hence, using the eternal and perfect world of "forms" or ideals as a template, he set about creating our world, which formerly only existed in a state of disorder. Plato 's Theory of Forms asserts that Forms (or Ideas) and not the material world of change known to us through sensation, possess

Purpose of the universe

Timaeus continues with an explanation of the creation of the universe, which he ascribes to the handiwork of a divine Craftsman. The demiurge, being good, wanted there to be as much good as was the world. Demiurge (the Latinized form of Greek demiourgos, δημιουργός, literally "public or skilled worker" from demos For Plato, the demiurge lacked the supernatural ability to create ex nihilo or out of nothing. The Latin phrase ex nihilo means "out of nothing" It often appears in conjunction with the concept of Creation, as in creatio ex nihilo Not being omnipotent the demiurge was able to only organize to a limited extent the "ananke" (αναγκη) or necessity. The demiurge is said to bring order out of substance by imitating an unchanging and eternal model (paradigm). The ananke was the only other co-existent element or presence in Plato's cosmogony. This article discusses scientific theories of creation (cosmogony This is a major point of contrast between Plato's explanation of the origin of the world and the Bible account of creation (in its twelfth-century interpretation) in which God created from nothing and was the only eternal being.

(Later in history the term "demiurge" became a term of vilification by Gnostics who purported that the demiurge was a fallen and ignorant god creating a flawed universe, but this was not how Plato was using the term. Gnosticism (γνώσις gnōsis, Knowledge) refers to a diverse Syncretistic Religious movement consisting of various Belief systems )

Properties of the universe

Timaeus describes the substance as a lack of homogeneity or balance, in which the four elements (earth, air, fire and water—see Platonic solids) were shapeless, mixed and in constant motion. Many ancient philosophies used a set of archetypal classical "elements" to explain patterns in Nature. Earth, home and origin of humanity has often been worshipped in its own right with its own unique spiritual tradition In traditional cultures air is often seen as a universal power or pure substance Fire has been an important part of many cultures and religions from pre-history to modern day and was vital to the development of civilization Water has been important to all peoples of the earth and it is rich in spiritual tradition In Geometry, a Platonic solid is a convex Regular polyhedron. Considering that order is favourable over disorder, the essential act of the creator was to bring order and clarity to this substance. Therefore, all the properties of the world are to be explained by the demiurge's choice of what is fair and good; or, the idea of a dichotomy between good and evil. Demiurge (the Latinized form of Greek demiourgos, δημιουργός, literally "public or skilled worker" from demos Evil, in many cultures is used to describe acts or thoughts which are contrary to some particular religion

First of all, the world is a living creature. Since the unintelligent creatures are in their appearance less fair than intelligent creatures, and since intelligence needs to be settled in a soul, the demiurge "put intelligence in soul, and soul in body" in order to make a living and intelligent whole. Demiurge (the Latinized form of Greek demiourgos, δημιουργός, literally "public or skilled worker" from demos "Wherefore, using the language of probability, we may say that the world became a living creature truly endowed with soul and intelligence by the providence of God" (30a-b).

Then, since the part is imperfect compared to the whole, the world had to be one and only. Therefore, the demiurge did not create several worlds, but one and unique world (31b).

The creator decided also to make the perceptible body of the universe by four elements, in order to render it proportioned. Indeed, in addition to fire and earth, which make bodies visible and solid, a third element was required as a mean: "two things cannot be rightly put together without a third; there must be some bond of union between them". Moreover, since the world is not a surface but a solid, a fourth mean was needed to reach harmony: therefore, the creator placed water and air between fire and earth. "And for these reasons, and out of such elements which are in number four, the body of the world was created, and it was harmonised by proportion" (31-33).

As for the figure, the demiurge created the world in the geometric form of a globe. Indeed, the round figure is the most perfect one, because it comprehends or averages all the other figures and it is the most omnimorphic of all figures: "he [the demiurge] considered that the like is infinitely fairer than the unlike" (33b).

The creator assigned then to the world a rotatory or circular movement, which is the "most appropriate to mind and intelligence" on account of its being the most uniform (34a).

Finally, he created the soul of the world, placed that soul in the center of the world's body and diffused it in every direction. For other uses see Anima Mundi Anima mundi ( Latin) is the world soul, a pure ethereal spirit which was proclaimed by Having thus been created as a perfect, self-sufficient and intelligent being, the world is a God (34b).

The creation of the soul of the world

Timaeus then explains how the soul of the world was created. The demiurge combined three elements: Sameness (indivisible and unchangeable, also called Being), Difference (divisible and changing, also called Change), and Existence, a reality which is intermediate to the first two (otherwise known as Becoming). One substance resulted, which he divided following precise mathematical proportions. He then cut the compound lengthways, fixed the resulting two bands in their middle, like in the letter Χ (chi), and connected them at their ends, to have two crossing circles. Chi ( Uppercase Χ, Lowercase χ; Χι He is the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, pronounced as in English The demiurge imparted them a circular movement on their axis: the outer circle was assigned Sameness and turned horizontally to the right, while the inner circle was assigned to Difference and turned diagonally and to the left (34c-36c).

The demiurge gave the primacy to the motion of Sameness and left it undivided; but he divided the motion of Difference in six parts, to have seven unequal circles. He prescribed these circles to move in opposite directions, three of them with equal speeds, the others with unequal speeds, but always in proportion. These circles are the orbits of the heavenly bodies: the three moving at equal speeds are the Sun, Venus and Mercury, while the four moving at unequal speeds are the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (36c-d). In Astronomy, the geocentric model of the Universe is the superseded theory that the Earth is the center of the universe and other

Then, the demiurge connected the body and the soul of the universe: he diffused the soul from the center of the body to its extremities in every direction, allowing the invisible soul to envelop the visible body. The soul began to rotate and this was the beginning of its eternal and rational life (36e).

Therefore, having been composed by Sameness, Difference and Existence (their mean), and formed in right proportions, the soul declares the sameness or difference of every object it meets: when it is a sensible object, the inner circle of the Diverse transmit its movement to the soul, where opinions arise, but when it is an intellectual object, the circle of the Same turns perfectly round and true knowledge arises (37a-c).

The elements

The term elements (stoicheia) was first used by the Greek philosopher Plato in about 360 BC, in his dialogue Timaeus, which includes a discussion of the composition of inorganic and organic bodies and is a rudimentary treatise on chemistry. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Plato assumed that the minute particle of each element had a special geometric shape: tetrahedron (fire), octahedron (air), icosahedron (water), and cube (earth). A tetrahedron (plural tetrahedra) is a Polyhedron composed of four triangular faces three of which meet at each vertex. An octahedron (plural octahedra is a Polyhedron with eight faces In Geometry, an icosahedron ( Greek: eikosaedron, from eikosi twenty + hedron seat /ˌaɪ A cube is a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces facets or sides with three meeting at each vertex.

Tetrahedron (fire)	Octahedron (air)	Icosahedron (water)	Cube (earth)

Plato's Timaeus conjectures on the composition of the four elements which the ancient Greeks thought made up the universe: earth, water, air, and fire. A tetrahedron (plural tetrahedra) is a Polyhedron composed of four triangular faces three of which meet at each vertex. An octahedron (plural octahedra is a Polyhedron with eight faces In Geometry, an icosahedron ( Greek: eikosaedron, from eikosi twenty + hedron seat /ˌaɪ A cube is a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces facets or sides with three meeting at each vertex. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions Plato conjectured each of these elements to be made up of a certain Platonic solid: the element of earth would be a cube, of air an octahedron, of water an icosahedron, and of fire a tetrahedron^[3]. In Geometry, a Platonic solid is a convex Regular polyhedron. A cube is a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces facets or sides with three meeting at each vertex. An octahedron (plural octahedra is a Polyhedron with eight faces In Geometry, an icosahedron ( Greek: eikosaedron, from eikosi twenty + hedron seat /ˌaɪ A tetrahedron (plural tetrahedra) is a Polyhedron composed of four triangular faces three of which meet at each vertex. Each of these perfect polyhedra would be in turn composed of triangles. What is a polyhedron? We can at least say that a polyhedron is built up from different kinds of element or entity each associated with a different number of dimensions A triangle is one of the basic Shapes of Geometry: a Polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are Line Only certain triangular shapes would be allowed, such as the 30-60-90 and the 45-45-90 triangles. Two types of special right triangles appear commonly in geometry the "angle based" and the "side based" (or Pythagorean Triangles The former are characterised Each element could be broken down into its component triangles, which could then be put back together to form the other elements. Thus, the elements would be interconvertible, so this idea was a precursor to alchemy. Alchemy a part of the Occult Tradition is both a philosophy and a practice with an ultimately unknown aim involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of

Plato's Timaeus posits the existence of a fifth element (corresponding to the fifth remaining Platonic solid, the dodecahedron) called quintessence, of which the cosmos itself is made. A dodecahedron is any Polyhedron with twelve faces but usually a regular dodecahedron is meant a Platonic solid composed of twelve regular Pentagonal In its most general sense a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system Timaeus also discusses music theory: e. Music theory is the field of study that deals with the Mechanics of music and how Music works g. construction of the Pythagorean scale. Pythagorean tuning is a system of Musical tuning in which the Frequency relationships of all intervals are based on the ratio 32. The last part of the dialogue addresses the creation of humans, including the soul, anatomy, perception, and transmigration of the soul. The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living Anatomy (from the Greek anatomia, from ana separate apart from and temnein, to cut up cut open is a branch of Biology that is the consideration In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. Transmigration of the soul (sometimes given simply as Transmigration) is similar and foreign in some ways to the philosophy of Reincarnation.

Golden ratio

"For whenever in any three numbers, whether cube or square, there is a mean, which is to the last term what the first term is to it; and again, when the mean is to the first term as the last term is to the mean—then the mean becoming first and last, and the first and last both becoming means, they will all of them of necessity come to be the same, and having become the same with one another will be all one"; thereby he implies the aesthetically perfect proportion known as Golden ratio or Golden mean. In Mathematics and the Arts two quantities are in the Golden ratio if the Ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the (31c - 32a).

Later influence

Medieval manuscript of Calcidius' Latin Timaeus translation.

The Timaeus was translated into Latin by Cicero and again by Calcidius. Marcus Tullius Cicero ( Classical Latin ˈkikeroː usually ˈsɪsərəʊ in English January 3, 106 BC &ndash December 7, 43 BC was a Roman Calcidius was a fourth century Christian who translated the first part (to 53c of Plato 's Timaeus from Greek into Latin Cicero's version can be found at [1]; Calcidius' survived and was one of the few works of classical natural philosophy available to Latin readers in the early Middle Ages. For the current in the 19th century German idealism see Naturphilosophie Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature (from Thus it had a strong influence on medieval Neoplatonic cosmology and was commented particularly by 12th century Christian philosophers of the Chartres School, such as Thierry of Chartres and William of Conches, who, following the official Christian doctrine, refused the original idea of eternal matter co-existing with God and introduced the creation ex nihilo. Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical Philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD founded by Thierry of Chartres ( Theodoricus Chartrensis) or Theodoric the Breton ( Theodericus Brito) (died before 1155 probably 1150 was a twelfth-century philosopher William of Conches (c 1090&ndashafter 1154 was a French scholastic Philosopher. ^[4]

See also

• Johannes Kepler
• Leibniz
• Plotinus
• Esoteric cosmology
• Religious cosmology
• Creation myth
• Teleological argument

References

• Cornford, Francis Macdonald [1935] (1997). Johannes Kepler (ˈkɛplɚ ( December 27 1571 &ndash November 15 1630) was a German Mathematician, Astronomer Plotinus ( Greek:) (ca AD 204–270 was a major philosopher of the ancient world who is widely considered the founder of Neoplatonism (along with his Esoteric cosmology is Cosmology that is an intrinsic part of an esoteric or occult system of thought See Cosmology (disambiguation. Religious cosmologies are ways of explaining the history and evolution of the Universe based A creation myth is a supernatural mytho-[[religion religious]] story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, Earth, life, and A teleological argument, or argument from design, is an Argument for the Existence of God or a creator based on perceived evidence of order purpose design Francis Macdonald Cornford ( 27 February 1874 &ndash 3 January 1943) was an English classical scholar and Poet Plato's Cosmology: the Timaeus of Plato, Translated with a Running Commentary. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 0-87220-386-7.  
• Derrida, Jacques [1993] (1995). On the Name. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2555-1.  
• Martin, Thomas Henry [1841] (1981). Études sur le Timée de Platon. Paris: Librairie philosophique J. Vrin.  
• Sallis, John (1999). John Sallis (born 1938) is an American Philosopher. He is currently the Frederick J Chorology: On Beginning in Plato's "Timaeus". Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-21308-8.  
• Taylor, Alfred E. (1928). A commentary on Plato's Timaeus. Oxford: Clarendon.  

Footnotes

External links

• Digby 23 Project at Baylor University
• Plato's Timaeus Translated by Benjamin Jowett:
  • Project Gutenberg edition (includes Jowett's introduction)
  • York University edition
  • Jowett text with all words linked and concordance
• MathPages - Kevin Brown's discussion of Plato's Timaeus
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
• Timaeus Bibliography