Plato's Timaeus on powers as primary causes of reality

What is it about?

This chapter is about one of the most influential ancient accounts of the generation of the world: the one given by Plato in the Timaeus. It argues that the world was generated as a process that leads things in generation to their perfection, and demonstrates that things are generated due to the interaction of primary powers. These powers are metaphysical primitives. What is remarkable about them is that they account for what I call the inevitable law of displacement, a natural law of motion according to which items have tendency to move towards those of similar density. This law holds before and after the crafting of the world, and accounts for the natural motion of bodies.

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Photo by Dynamic Wang on Unsplash

Photo by Dynamic Wang on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The relevance of this paper lies in demonstrating that Plato considers generation a primary mode of existence, prior to the world itself. As a consequence, generational powers are posited as the first causes of reality. This means both that they are real (not simply an apparent phenomenon) and that they are not caused by anything else. I show that there are five modes of existence in the Timaeus: two related to intelligence (the demiurge and what always is in conformity with itself); two related to the inevitable (what is always in generation and what always resists and never is something, the bearer) and one that is the outcome of the interaction of these four: what is generated and remains.

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