Keywords
Plato
Phaedo
Timaeus
How to Cite
Abstract
I would like to investigate here on an interpretive trend, one that invokes “teleology,” a compound term whose first element derives from the Greek telos, “end,” and the second from logos, “explanation”; the term ultimately refers to the final cause in Aristotle. The term “teleology” has become a relentless formula among those who now focus on Plato, Aristotle, and even the Stoics. In Plato, three places are particularly targeted: the autobiography of Socrates in the Phaedo (96e-99d), the Timaeus, and book X of the Laws. In this work in progress, I will limit myself to the Timaeus. I have worked hard on the Timaeus and, from the beginning, I wanted to read this text in and for itself, removing the thick layer of interpretations that, since the time of Aristotle, has covered this very original and enigmatic text.
References
Baltes Matthias, « Gégonen (Platon, Tim. 28b7). Ist die Welt real entstanden oder nicht ? », in: Algra K., Van der Horst P. W. and D.-Runia (eds.), Polyhistor. Studies in the History of Ancient Philosophy, presented to Jaap Mansfeld, Leiden / New York / Köln : Brill, 1996, 88. https://amzn.to/3euIEZK
Betegh Gábor, « Tale, heology and Teleology in the Phaedo », in: Partenie Catalin (ed.), Plato’s Myths, Cambridge / New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009, p. 77-100.
Brisson Luc, Le Même et l’Autre dans la structure ontologique du Timée de Platon. Un commentaire systématique du Timée de Platon [1974], Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag, 1998. https://amzn.to/3b7d0zl
Brisson Luc & Meyerstein F. Walter, Inventer l’univers. Le problème de la connaissance et les modèles cosmologiques, Paris: Les Belles Lettres, L’âne d’or, 1991. Traduction en anglais sous le titre Inventing the Universe, Albany: Suny Press, 1995. https://amzn.to/3eW21tq https://amzn.to/3f60fpF
Brisson Luc, « Un si long anonymat », in: Narbonne Jean-Marc et Langlois Luc (éd.), La métaphysique. Son histoire, sa critique, ses enjeux, Actes du congrès de l’Association des Sociétés de philosophie de langue française, Université Laval-Québec, 18-24 août 1998, Paris/ Québec: Vrin / Presses de l’Université Laval, 1999, p. 37-60. https://amzn.to/3bc1XVH
Brisson Luc, « Plato’s Theory of Sense Perception in the Timaeus. How It Works and What It Means » [1997], in: Cleary J. and Gurtler G. (eds.), Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy, 13, Lanham / New York / London : University Press of America, 1999, p. 147-176. https://amzn.to/3vTlSka
Brisson Luc, « Aristote, Physique IV 2 » [1997], repris dans Lectures de Platon, Paris: Vrin, 2000, p. 99-110. https://amzn.to/3evGzNe
Brisson Luc, « La notion philosophique de phthónos chez Platon» [1996], repris dans Lectures de Platon, Paris : Vrin, 2000, p. 219-234. https://amzn.to/3evGzNe
Brisson Luc, « How and Why Do the Building Blocks of the Universe Change Constantly in Plato’s Timaeus (51a-61c) ? », in: Natali Carlo e Maso Stefano (a cura di), Plato Physicus. Cosmologia e antropologia nel Timeo, Amsterdam : Hakkert, 2003, p. 189-204 et figures.
Brisson Luc, « La “matière” chez Platon et dans la tradition platonicienne », in: Giovannozzi Delina e Veneziani Marco (a cura di), Materia, XIII Colloquio Internazionale, Roma, 7-8-9 gennaio 2010, Firenze : Leo S. Olschki editore, Lessico Intellettuale Europeo, 2011, p. 1-40.
Brisson Luc, « Why is the Timaeus called an eikôs muthos and an eikôs logos? », in: Collobert Catherine, Destrée Pierre and Gonzalez Francisco J. (eds.), Plato and Myth. Studies in the Use and Status of Platonic Myths, Leiden / Boston : Brill, 2012, p. 369-391. https://amzn.to/3xVMa71
Brisson Luc, « Clement and Cyril of Alexandria: Confronting Platonism with Christianism », in: Vinzent Markus (ed.), Studia Patristica. Papers Presented at the Sixtieth International Conference on Patristic Studies Held in Oxford 2001, vol. 6, Studia patristica, 58, Neoplatonism and Patristics, Leuven : Peeters, 2013, p. 19-44.
Broadie Sarah, Nature and Divinity in Plato’s Timaeus, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. https://amzn.to/3nXQXjL
Brumbaugh Robert S., « Plato’s Relation to the Arts and Crafts », in: Werkmeister W. H. (ed.), Facets of Plato’ philosophy, Assen: Van Gorcum, Phronesis, Suppl. II, 1976, p. 40-52. https://amzn.to/3tDIsf7
Burnyeat Myles F., « Eikos muthos », Rhizai, 2, 2005, p. 143-165.
Carone Gabriela R., « Teleology and Evil in Laws 10 », Review of Metaphysics, 48, 1994-1995, p. 275-298.
Chen Chung Hwan, « Plato’s Theistic Teleology », Anglican Theological Review, 43, 1961, p. 71-87.
Cherniss Harold F., Aristotle’s Criticism of Plato and the Academy, New York : Russell & Russell, 1944. https://amzn.to/3xVfwlP
Cooper John M., « Aristotle on Natural Teleology », in: Schofield M. and Nussbaum M. C. (eds.), Language and logos. Studies in Ancient Greek Philosophy Presented to G. E. L. Owen, Cambridge, 1982, p. 197-222. https://amzn.to/3vTmzKi
Cornford Francis M., Plato’s Cosmology, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1937. https://amzn.to/3hiLm66
Cresswell Maxwell J., « Plato’s Theory of Causality. Phaedo 95-106 », Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 19, 1971, p. 244-249.
Ferrari Franco, « Causa paradigmatica e causa eicient. Il ruolo delle idee nel Timeo », in: Natali Carlo e Maso Stefano (a cura di), Plato Physicus. Cosmologia e antropologia nel Timeo, Amsterdam: Hakkert, 2003, p. 83-96.
Festugière André J., Contemplation et vie contemplative selon Platon, Paris: Vrin, 1936. https://amzn.to/2RDR1c9
Franklin Lee, « Techne and Teleology in Plato’s Gorgias », Apeiron, 38, 2005, p. 229-255.
Frede Michael, « The Original Notion of Cause », in: Schofield M., Burnyeat M. and Barnes J. (eds.), Doubt and Dogmatism: Studies in Hellenistic Epistemology, Oxford, 1980, p. 217-249. https://amzn.to/3o0TTvP
Fronterotta Francesco (ed.), La scienza e le cause a partire dalla Metaisica di Aristotele, Napoli: Bibliopolis, collana Elenchos, 54, 2010. https://amzn.to/2R1SYze
Graham Daniel W., « Socrates, the Craft Analogy, and Science », Apeiron, 24, 1991, p. 1-24.
Hackforth Reginald, « Plato’s Theism » [1936], in : Allen R. E. (ed.), Studies in Plato’s Metaphysics, London : Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965, p. 439-447. https://amzn.to/3hbSnpt
Johansen Thomas K., Plato’s Natural Philosophy. A Study of the Timaeus-Critias, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. https://amzn.to/3vON17E
Johansen Thomas K., « The Place of the Demiurge in Plato’s Teleology », in: Natali Carlo e Maso Stefano (a cura di), Plato physicus. Cosmologie e antropologia nel Tieme, Amsterdam: Hakkert, 2003, p. 83-96.
Lennox James G., « Plato’s Unnatural Teleology », in: O’Meara Dominic J. (ed.), Platonic Investigations, Washington: The Catholic University of America, 1985, p. 195-218. https://amzn.to/3bcNBEq
Mackenzie Mary M., « Impasse and Explanation; from the Lysis to the Phaedo », Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, 70, 1988, p. 15-45.
Menn Stephen, Plato on God as Nous, Carbondale (Illinois): Southern Illinois University Press, The Journal of the History of Philosophy Monograph Series, 1995. https://amzn.to/3xYJ3em
Michalewski Alexandra, La puissance de l’intelligible. La théorie plotinienne des Formes au miroir de l’héritage médioplatonicien, Leuven : Leuven University Press, 2014. https://amzn.to/3eqhAKZ
Natali Carlo & Maso Stefano (a cura di), Antiaristotelismo, Amsterdam : Hakkert, 1999.
Natali Carlo & Maso Stefano (a cura di), Plato physicus. Cosmologia e antropologia nel Timeo, 2003.
Natali Carlo & Maso Stefano (a cura di), La catena delle cause. Determinismo e antideterminismo nel pensiero antico et in quello contemporaneo, 2005.
Payne Andrew, « The teleology of the Ascent in Plato’s Symposium », Apeiron, 41, 2008, p. 123-146.
Philonenko Alexis, « L’antinomie du jugement téléologique », Revue de métaphysique et de morale, 82, 1977, p. 13-37; repris dans Études kantiennes, Paris : Vrin, 1982.
Sedley David N., « Teleology and Myth in the Phaedo », Boston Area Colloquium, 5, 1989, p. 359-383.
Sedley David N., « Socrates’ Place in the History of Teleology », Elenchos, 29, 2008, p. 317-334.
Sedley David N., Creationism, and its Critics in Antiquity, Berkeley / Los Angeles / London : University of California Press, 2007. https://amzn.to/3uvBvOi
Strange Steven K., « The Double Explanation in the Timaeus », Ancient Philosophy, 5, 1985, 25-39.
Wiggins David, « Teleology and the Good in Plato’s Phaedo », Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, 4, 1986, p. 1-18. https://amzn.to/3xTWZq5
Woodfield Andrew, Teleology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976. https://amzn.to/33sFG1i
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2021 Journal of Teleological Science