Description
Book SynopsisPlato's "Timaeus" contains a powerful and influential myth, of the construction of the universe by a divine craftsman. A god imposed reason on necessity, to bring order from a primeval 'receptacle' of disordered matter. There results the 'child' that is the cosmos - a copy of an externally-existing perfect model. Here eight new essays, from an international cast of scholars, explore aspects of this challenging work: the principles of the mythical narrative, how the world soul and human body are formed, implications for illness - mental and physical - and the importance of music and harmonious proportion. Later developments are also treated: Aristotles' theory of generation, the commentary of Proclus and elements of modern evolutionary theory.
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Outline of Topics in Plato's Timaeus xvi 1. Myth, Science and Reason in the Timaeus -
M.R. Wright 2. How to Build a World Soul: A Practical Guide -
Sergio Zedda 3. How to Build a Human Body: An Idealist's Guide -
Scott Burgess 4. The Body's Fault? Plato's Timaeus on Psychic Illness -
Christopher Gill 5. Timaeus on Music and the Liver -
Andrew Barker 6. Aristotle's Understanding of Plato's Receptacle -
Lesley Dean-Jones 7. Proclus on Demiurgy and Procession in the Timaeus -
Jan Opsomer 8. Zoogony and Evolution in Plato's Timaeus, the Presocratics, Lucretius and Darwin -
Gordon Campbell Bibliography of Main Editions Index Locorum General Index
