The Nature of the World Soul in Plato's Timaeus between LOGOS and MYTHOS

• Grant number: 17/00336-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: June 04, 2017
• End date: August 29, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Luca Jean Pitteloud
• Grantee: Luca Jean Pitteloud
• Host Investigator: Luc Brisson
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Centre Jean Pépin, France

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to provide a study of the World Soul in Plato's Timaeus. The Timaeus, in its elaboration of Plato's cosmology, contains fundamental elements in the context of a discussion on Platonic psychology. As such, the project wishes to offer a study of the description of the World Soul as elaborated in the Timaeus, highlighting the following dimensions: a) its composition, b) its mathematical structure, c) its moving function and d) its cognitive function. In order to elaborate this philosophical description of the World Soul, it will be shown that such a description is only possible in a very specific kind of discourse which will display properties of both a philosophical argument (logos) and a myth (mythos). The combination of logos and mythos in the case of the Timaeus' discourse will be understood as an effective and original way to provide a description of the World Soul.