This article analyzes the value of geometric models to understand matter with the examples of the Platonic model for the primary four elements (fire, air, water, and earth) and the models of carbon atomic structures in the new science of crystallography. How the geometry of these models is built in order to discover the properties of matter is explained: movement and stability for the primary elements, and hardness, softness and elasticity for the carbon atoms. These geometric models appear to have (...) a double quality: firstly, they exhibit visually the scientific properties of matter, and secondly they give us the possibility to visualize its whole nature. Geometrical models appear to be the expression of the mind in the understanding of physical matter. (shrink)

Current teleology in Western biology, philosophy, and theology draws on resources from four main Western philosophers. (1) Plato’s ’Timaeus’, (2) Aristotle’s ’Physics’, (3) Kant’s ’Critique of Judgment’, (4) Hegel’s ’Philosophy of Nature’. Teleological themes persist, in different ways, in contemporary discussions; I consider two lines of criticism of traditional teleology -- by Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould -- and one line that continues traditional teleology in an updated way -- by Holmes Rolston, III. (edited).

Censure and exclusion of The Republic are characteristics of many utopias, which become dystopias precisely because of turning to them. Plato´s reasons to censure certain types of poetry are ethical and political ones, although his arguments are epistemological . This paper proposes reading these two aspects of the platonic proposal in the light of three specific points of the Timaeus: 1) the theory of discourse about the concept of verisimilar , 2) its relation to the question of whether we can (...) represent objects we do not know, and 3) the demiurge model proposed by Plato in this dialogue. The aim is to show that two of the most problematic aspects of The Republic, are dissolved today in the Timaeus. (shrink)

One of the hardest questions to answer for a (Neo)platonist is to what extent and how the changing and unreliable world of sense perception can itself be an object of scientific knowledge. My dissertation is a study of the answer given to that question by the Neoplatonist Proclus (Athens, 411-485) in his Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus. I present a new explanation of Proclus’ concept of nature and show that philosophy of nature consists of several related subdisciplines matching the ontological stratification (...) of nature. Moreover, I demonstrate that for Proclus philosophy of nature is a science, albeit a hypothetical one, which takes geometry as its methodological paradigm. I also offer an explanation of Proclus’ view of what is later called the mathematization of physics, i.e. the role of the substance of mathematics, as opposed to its method, in explaining the natural world. Finally, I discuss Proclus’ views of the discourse of philosophy of nature and its iconic character. (shrink)

Resumen La censura y la exclusión de la República son características de muchas utopías, las cuales se convierten en distopías precisamente por recurrir a ellas. Las razones de Platón para censurar determinados tipos de poesía son de índole ético-política, si bien sus argumentos son de carácter epistemológico (los poetas representan mal, sus mitos son falsos). Este trabajo propone leer estos dos aspectos de la propuesta platónica a la luz de tres puntos específicos del Timeo: 1) la teoría del discurso en (...) torno al concepto de "verosímil" (eikós) 2) su relación con la pregunta sobre si podemos representar objetos que no conocemos y 3) el modelo de demiurgo propuesto por Platón en dicho diálogo. El objetivo es mostrar que dos de los aspectos más problemáticos de ayer, la República, se disuelven hoy en el Timeo.Censure and exclusion of The Republic are characteristics of many utopias, which become dystopias precisely because of turning to them. Plato's reasons to censure certain types of poetry are ethical and political ones, although his arguments are epistemological (the poets represent in a wrong way, their myths are false). This paper proposes reading these two aspects of the platonic proposal in the light of three specific points of the Timaeus: 1) the theory of discourse about the concept of verisimilar (eikos), 2) its relation to the question of whether we can represent objects we do not know, and 3) the demiurge model proposed by Plato in this dialogue. The aim is to show that two of the most problematic aspects of The Republic, are dissolved today in the Timaeus. (shrink)