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Reading 1: Plato’s Timaeus

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6 comments

Plato, Timaeus 17a–48b (up to the end of the creation of man and the parts of the soul and sense organs; the introduction of “necessity” is a good place to stop)

Due: Friday, March 6, 2026

Topic: cosmology

Obtain: buy ($5 Kindle edition is worth it just for the notes by Andrew Gregory; Oxford World’s Classics edition, trans. by Robin Waterfield; modern translation but pretty faithful as far as I can tell); various free editions

Please add below any general comments you have to make about the Timaeus that don’t belong under any particular Q&A, as well as any questions, complements, criticisms, etc., about the seminar. You could introduce yourself here. While we are getting started, this is a good time to share your opinions on procedure and otherwise raise meta-questions.

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Larry Sanger

“Internet Knowledge Organizer.” Currently President of the Knowledge Standards Foundation, started Wikipedia and various other educational and reference sites. Ph.D., Philosophy, Ohio State, 2000. [read more]

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Please do dive in (politely). I want your reactions!

6 responses to “Reading 1: Plato’s Timaeus”

  1. Joe Hootman

    Some of the pieces:
    – God is a craftsman who creates by ordering
    – His line of argument proceeds by applying greater-to-lesser reasoning from ideals of perfection and beauty – reasoning from geometry and principles of symmetry and identity
    – Man is actually created out of the eternal as some sort of physical material itself
    – The eternal realm is like a template or ideal model for the created realm.
    – God is an overgod who generates lesser gods, then the universe, then men
    – The process of oral transmission starts with something being taught, then repetition by the student to memory, teaching it others – detail, accuracy, and fidelity to the original matter
    – In time, there is only the eternal is, but the heavenly bodies were created so they could create past and future
    – Wonder whether Plato the genesis of the Atlantis story or is he passing it along.
    – I read the parts of 1 Cor 15 about the mortal being clothed with the immortal with Plato in in the background of listening

    Reply to Joe Hootman
    1. Larry Sanger

      This is a great set of notes. Thanks, Joe.

      Reply to Larry Sanger
  2. Tom Dill

    Here is the requested comment to let you know the system is working. I’ve read the assigned sections of Timaeus and will skim over as much of the rest as I can by Friday. I’m in a busy season right now, so I may not be able to participate as much as I’d like for the next few weeks, but I am very much looking forward to this. I’m not formally educated in either philosophy or theology, but I have a passion for both subjects, and with the possible exception of not having to worry about my scalp getting sunburned, the thing I miss most from my mid-to-late twenties is all the nights spent drinking too much coffee with friends who were students at SBTS and talking theology until the baristas shooed us out so they could mop the floors. I’ve been feeling a bit starved of challenging discussion lately, so I’m glad you’re offering this series.

    Reply to Tom Dill
    1. Larry Sanger

      Excellent. Welcome, Thomas!

      Reply to Larry Sanger
  3. JOSEPH SUAIDAN

    Looks good! Reviewing

    Reply to JOSEPH SUAIDAN
  4. Larry Sanger

    I think it’s pretty cool that we can read about Atlantis here (and even more in the paired dialogue, the Critias), as well as Plato’s lore about civilization-destroying floods. And that’s before he gets into cosmology (which we’ll spend most of our time on)!

    This page can serve as a general seminar chat, at least for now. Join in below!

    Reply to Larry Sanger

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