Cosmos and Perception in Plato’s Timaeus

<p>This volume offers a wide-ranging study on perception in the <i>Timaeus</i>, not only discussing senses such as touch, taste, and olfaction alongside audition and vision but also engaging with Timaeus’ wider cosmological project. </p><p>Most studies of perception in the <i>Timaeus </i>focus on a few narrow passages on vision and audition. By taking the broader approach of this volume, important lessons about the nature of perception may be gleaned from Timaeus’ cosmogony, psychogony, and anthropogony. While there is an emerging modern consensus that the <i>Timaeus </i>should be read literally, this study argues against a literal interpretation of the spatial and kinetic properties of the soul in favour of a metaphorical understanding. Not only does this yield a rich account of the intentionality of cognition but also sheds light onto the nature of the soul-body union. In addition, this volume argues for the largely overlooked significance of Timaean anatomy, as it contributes to our understanding of the providential scheme of Timaeus’ cosmology more generally.</p><p>Cosmos and Perception in Plato’s Timaeus is of interest to students and scholars of the <i>Timaeus </i>and Plato’s thought more broadly, as well as those working on ancient theories of perception and the philosophy of mind.</p> <p>1. <em>Proemium</em>; 2. Cosmogony; 3. Psychogony; 4. Cognitive Revolution; 5. Embodiment; 6. The End of Vision and Audition<strong>; 7. </strong>Common <em>Pathēmata</em>;<em> </em>8. Peculiar <em>Pathēmata</em>; 9. The Anatomy of Tripartition; 10. The Bonds of Life.</p>