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)

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)