Athena 18:58-73 (
2023)
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Abstract
In this article, I make the case for the continued relevance of Plato’s Timaeus. I begin by
sketching Allan Bloom’s picture of the natural sciences today in The Closing of the American
Mind, according to which the natural sciences are, objectionably, increasingly specialized and
have ejected humans qua humans from their purview. I argue that Plato’s Timaeus, despite the
falsity of virtually all of its scientific claims, provides a model for how we can pursue scientific
questions in a comprehensive way that stresses their connections to other disciplines, including
the humanities, and that puts humanity qua humanity back in the picture. I then argue that being
led by Plato’s philosophy to return humanity conceptually to the natural world can improve our
thinking regarding climate change and other important environmental crises.