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Plato's Universe
A distinguished Platonic scholar discusses the impact of the Greek discovery of the "cosmos" on man's perception of his place in the universe, describes the problems this posed, and interprets Plato's response to this discovery.
Starting with the Presocratics, Vlastos describes the intellectual revolution that began with the cosmogonies of Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes in the sixth century B.C. and culminated a century later in the atomist system of Leucippus and Democritus. What united these men was that for all of them nature remained the inviolate, all-inclusive principle of explanation, precluding any appeal to a supernatural cause or ordering agency.
In a detailed analysis of the astronomical and physical theories of the Timaeus, Vlastos demonstrates Plato's role in the reception and transmission of the discovery of the new conception of the universe. Plato gives us the chance to see that movement from a unique that of a fierce opponent of the revolution who was determined to wrest from its brilliant discovery, annex its cosmos, and redesign it on the pattern of his own idealistic and theistic metaphysics.
This book is a reprint of the edition published in 1975 by the University of Washington Press. It includes a new Introduction by Luc Brisson.
Starting with the Presocratics, Vlastos describes the intellectual revolution that began with the cosmogonies of Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes in the sixth century B.C. and culminated a century later in the atomist system of Leucippus and Democritus. What united these men was that for all of them nature remained the inviolate, all-inclusive principle of explanation, precluding any appeal to a supernatural cause or ordering agency.
In a detailed analysis of the astronomical and physical theories of the Timaeus, Vlastos demonstrates Plato's role in the reception and transmission of the discovery of the new conception of the universe. Plato gives us the chance to see that movement from a unique that of a fierce opponent of the revolution who was determined to wrest from its brilliant discovery, annex its cosmos, and redesign it on the pattern of his own idealistic and theistic metaphysics.
This book is a reprint of the edition published in 1975 by the University of Washington Press. It includes a new Introduction by Luc Brisson.
140 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 28, 2021
Giving credit where it's due - Vlastos adopts interpretive principles I find unfruitful most of the time, but I'm making an exception here - a splendid take on the Timaeus. Vlastos does a great job clarifying the obscurities in the cosmology, and notes the qualified sense in which it is "science," its qualified inheritance of the Presocratics, and so on. All this in less than 150 pages of solid research and a fine introduction by Brisson situating Vlastos' research in its historical context.
April 5, 2022
This book is a fascinating summary of Plato's cosmology, and on its precursors
It isn't just interesting for it's own sake as a historical artefact, but also as a look into the attempts and debates surrounding attempts to pull one's worldview away from the chaos (in both the literal and mythological sense of the word) of an irrational, unpredictable universe, instead advocating for a cosmos, a universe that was orderly, predictable, rational, and most importantly for Plato, beautiful.
It's a fascinating historical tale of how rational men (and sadly they were almost all men) thought they could justify their belief that the world was explainable through order, that there was a method to the madness. If anything else, it's a hell of a world building tool.
It isn't just interesting for it's own sake as a historical artefact, but also as a look into the attempts and debates surrounding attempts to pull one's worldview away from the chaos (in both the literal and mythological sense of the word) of an irrational, unpredictable universe, instead advocating for a cosmos, a universe that was orderly, predictable, rational, and most importantly for Plato, beautiful.
It's a fascinating historical tale of how rational men (and sadly they were almost all men) thought they could justify their belief that the world was explainable through order, that there was a method to the madness. If anything else, it's a hell of a world building tool.
August 7, 2023
The dual mastery of Gregory Vlastos is astonishing. As a classicist and analytic philosopher, this slim book of his is a treasure, and must attract more readers, not for Plato’s sake, but for the greater tradition of philosophy of cosmology ever since the Pre-Socratics to be lit up again; and in return, they will see the cosmic perspective both analytic philosophy and science are lacking in times modern and academic, especially, as Vlastos have noted—the word “cosmos” is now an orphan in the English language.
March 21, 2011
i can't even count how many professors i have seen/heard give the lecture on the ancient greek worldview. however, i have never once found a good text for it. i am not entirely sure that the 'ancient greek worldview' lecture isn't just being passed around from professor to professor...
so, i found this book. it's esp. useful for teaching Plato. in the first 50 pages Vlastos explains ancient greek cosmology before Plato and Plato's cosmogony myth. these pages would be fantastic reading for students just prior to reading Republic for the first time.
so, i found this book. it's esp. useful for teaching Plato. in the first 50 pages Vlastos explains ancient greek cosmology before Plato and Plato's cosmogony myth. these pages would be fantastic reading for students just prior to reading Republic for the first time.
March 16, 2017
This slender volume is a gem. Vlastos is my favorite interpreter of Plato, and here he doesn't disappoint. The book is centered around Plato's cosmogony in the Timaeus, but it begins with the Pre-Socratics, and one of the main themes is the arise of scientific thinking (if not exactly the scientific method) in the ancient world. Brilliant.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews