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39th out of 100 books
—
7 voters
Timaeus
by
Plato,
Donald J. Zeyl
This text is extracted from Cornford's longer Plato's Cosmology.
Timaeus (c. 360 BCE) is one of Plato's dialogs, mostly in the form of a long monologue given by the title character. The work puts forward speculation on the nature of the physical world & human beings. It's followed by the dialog Critias. Speakers are Socrates, Timaeus of Locri, Hermocrates & Critias...more
Timaeus (c. 360 BCE) is one of Plato's dialogs, mostly in the form of a long monologue given by the title character. The work puts forward speculation on the nature of the physical world & human beings. It's followed by the dialog Critias. Speakers are Socrates, Timaeus of Locri, Hermocrates & Critias...more
Hardcover, 112 pages
Published
by Hackett Publishing Company
(first published -360)
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Though the Timaeus was one of Plato's most influential dialogues -- influential on the course of Western intellectual history, particularly in Christian theology -- we did not read it in grad school for a few reasons. 1) It is largely about the creation of the world and lays out a scientific view that is clearly false according to contemporary science. 2) It is a late Platonic dialogue, and we largely skipped late Plato and focused instead on studying early and middle.
This was all well and good...more
This was all well and good...more
Dec 09, 2011
Erik Graff
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Plato fans
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
philosophy
The sources for the myth of Atlantis are two: Plato's dialogs Timaeus and Critias, primarily the latter. That's it. The rest is much more modern invention.
Cornford's Plato books are usually detailed and excellent, albeit perhaps too detailed and technical for some readers. In this edition he did the translation as well as an introduction and preface, apparently abstracted from his longer Plato's Cosmology. Since the Timaeus is primarily a geometricized cosmology, something pretty alien to modern...more
Cornford's Plato books are usually detailed and excellent, albeit perhaps too detailed and technical for some readers. In this edition he did the translation as well as an introduction and preface, apparently abstracted from his longer Plato's Cosmology. Since the Timaeus is primarily a geometricized cosmology, something pretty alien to modern...more
This book provides an ancient Greek myth of world creation. It also describes the destruction of Atlantis. I have never understood why people have been as excited by this dialogue as they have historically. Part of it is because it was the only known surviving dialogue in Europe. Still, it doesn't say much that I find interesting but it was quoted and quoted throughout Medieval history.
Don't get me wrong. In the end it is still Plato. It just isn't one of my favorites.
Don't get me wrong. In the end it is still Plato. It just isn't one of my favorites.
Zeyl's translation is the most lucid of the Timaeus I have read. The work is a must–read for anyone interested in early & medieval Christian thought, and has merit in its own right— despite having been generally degenerated since the Enlightenment. Zeyl's introduction is as long as the text itself, and covers a lot of exegetical ground; Zeyl's view of the text can be said to be of the "unitary" school.
It's kind of a mess. Plato's conception of how the earth was created is just an atavistic whirlwind of different origins and primary forces, none of which are explained or tied together into a coherent framework He starts out with a foundational idea and then when he can't develop it any further, he just throws out another one and insists that it's somehow related to the previous one. That being said, this is a hugely important dialogue because in his examination of first origins Plato briefly c...more
I was fortunate enough to take Zeyl's last seminar as a professor on the Timaeus. I have a personal affinity for Aristotle, but this is quite an experience for a philosophy book and there are many things I got out of reading it. I'd recommend reading Cornford's commentary along with Zeyl's translation and long introduction/commentary.
The only Platonic dialogue containing a complete creation myth and a key to the music of the spheres - and in this text Plato introduces the notion of "likely stories" as an ancient insight into the contemporary issues surrounding the nature of scientific explanation.
I read this book because I heard that it was the original source of the Atlantean myth; if that is true then the origin of the myth consists entirely of a brief 'it happened to a friend of a friend of mine' mention on page 12. Atlantis is only mentioned in passing, while the majority of the book is focused on explaining all of creation according Platonic physics.
It is so hard to reconcile Platonic physics against what I know of modern physics, the two just don't work together, making this book d...more
It is so hard to reconcile Platonic physics against what I know of modern physics, the two just don't work together, making this book d...more
Oct 28, 2011
Ibis3
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2005,
canonical,
classic,
classical,
greek,
cosmology,
philosophy,
re-read,
religion,
physics,
metaphysics,
fourth-century-bce
After a long hiatus, I picked up Plato's dialogues again in 2005, starting with a re-read of Timaeus and Critias which I'd read at least a couple of times before. No review or notes written at the time.
A lot of the Timaeus is dead weight to contemporary readers, but the parts that aren't contain a whole lot of interest. Looking forward to my semester module surrounding this work.
τὸ τοὺ Πλάτου φὺσις χαλεπός ἐστίν καταλαβαίνειν, ἀλλὰ ἔτι ἔγω διαβάζειν.
Uses orderly sequencing and a divine being to explain and describe the creation of the universe. Lots of logos, nothing crazy.
Probably the worst Platonic dialogue. Of course, all of the cosmology is demonstrably wrong. But what makes it particularly annoying is the huge amount of absurdities that Plato should have known to be false (all triangles are of two kinds, both of which have a right angle). The ratio of wrong or meaningless statements is probably no higher than in Parmenides or Phaedo, but the length of this dialogue means there's a lot more silliness to sift through. Finally, the fact that it is one long monol...more
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Some interesting revelations of Greek thought and belief about origins & cosmology.
It's incredible how this man's mind worked.
Nesta presente obra, o filósofo e matemático grego tem como dialogantes Sócrates, Crítias, Hermócrates e Timeu, e é constituída por duas partes distintas: o diálogo entre Timeu e Sócrates; a segunda parte - que alarga-se até ao término do livro - é a abordagem e especulação de Timeu sobre a origem do universo, o microcosmo e a natureza enquanto mundo físico – sendo este o focus central do livro.
Opinião completa no blogue:
http://silenciosquefalam.blogspot.pt/...
Opinião completa no blogue:
http://silenciosquefalam.blogspot.pt/...
Again, profound synthesis of his time. Certain to keep my head guessing for several millenia.
This book taught me that some books have to be discussed to get anything out of them.
I believe this is the one in which Plato posits the fall of atlantis.
SJCA - Mathematics and Natural Science
Mar 13, 2010
Mary Johnson
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
freshman-year-sjc
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Birth c. 428–427 BC, Athens
Death c. 348–347 BC, Athens
Plato was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science.
Pl...more
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Death c. 348–347 BC, Athens
Plato was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science.
Pl...more
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