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Single Idea 326

[filed under theme 1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 1. Philosophy ]

Full Idea

If, for relaxation, one gives up discussing eternal things, it is pleasant to consider likely accounts of the world of change.

Gist of Idea

For relaxation one can consider the world of change, instead of eternal things

Source

Plato (Timaeus [c.349 BCE], 59c)

Book Ref

Plato: 'Timaeus and Critias', ed/tr. Lee,Desmond [Penguin 1971], p.84

A Reaction

To understand this, examine Plato's example of the Line at 'Republic' 509d.

The 26 ideas from 'Timaeus'

12042 Plato's Forms were seen as part of physics, rather than of metaphysics [Plato, by Annas]
5962 Plato says the soul is ordered by number [Plato, by Plutarch]
20364 The apprehensions of reason remain unchanging, but reasonless sensation shows mere becoming [Plato]
306 Nothing can come to be without a cause [Plato]
307 Something will always be well-made if the maker keeps in mind the eternal underlying pattern [Plato]
308 If the cosmos is an object of perception then it must be continually changing [Plato]
309 Clearly the world is good, so its maker must have been concerned with the eternal, not with change [Plato]
310 The creator of the cosmos had no envy, and so wanted things to be as like himself as possible [Plato]
311 The cosmos must be unique, because it resembles the creator, who is unique [Plato]
312 Time came into existence with the heavens, so that there will be a time when they can be dissolved [Plato]
314 Heavenly movements gave us the idea of time, and caused us to inquire about the heavens [Plato]
315 Philosophy is the supreme gift of the gods to mortals [Plato]
316 Music has harmony like the soul, and serves to reorder disharmony within us [Plato]
317 The universe is basically an intelligible and unchanging model, and a visible and changing copy of it [Plato]
318 In addition to the underlying unchanging model and a changing copy of it, there must also be a foundation of all change [Plato]
321 For knowledge and true opinion to be different there must be Forms; otherwise we are just stuck with sensations [Plato]
322 Intelligence is the result of rational teaching; true opinion can result from irrational persuasion [Plato]
324 Before the existence of the world there must have been being, space and becoming [Plato]
325 We must consider the four basic shapes as too small to see, only becoming visible in large numbers [Plato]
326 For relaxation one can consider the world of change, instead of eternal things [Plato]
327 There are two types of cause, the necessary and the divine [Plato]
328 Everything that takes place naturally is pleasant [Plato]
330 No one wants to be bad, but bad men result from physical and educational failures, which they do not want or choose [Plato]
331 Bad governments prevent discussion, and discourage the study of virtue [Plato]
332 One should exercise both the mind and the body, to avoid imbalance [Plato]
334 Only bird-brained people think astronomy is entirely a matter of evidence [Plato]