Chaos in the Universe

• Grant number: 19/07210-7
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): August 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal researcher: Luca Jean Pitteloud
• Grantee: Luca Jean Pitteloud
• Host: Dominic John O'Meara
• Home Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Université de Fribourg, Switzerland

Abstract

The objective of this project is to propose a study on Plato's Timaeus that will attempt to show how the description of pre-cosmic chaos (52c-53c), describing the state of the Universe before the intervention of the Demiurge represents a key moment of the dialogue that may provide a coherent and unified reading of the cosmological discourse. The introduction of the Receptacle will appear as central in the framework of various developments of the Timaeus, namely: the second point of departure of the dialogue (47e-53b); the question of the motions in the Universe and their relationship with the World Soul (38c-40d); the constitution and transmutation of the four elements (53b-61c); and the question of the participation of the sensible to the intelligible (50a-52c). More specifically, this project aims to show that the description of the pre-cosmic chaos in 52d2-53b7 can be understood as a mental experiment that implies ) the need for a movement of the Receptacle itself independent of the action of the World Soul, 2) the resolution of the question of the participation (methexis) of the sensible with the introduction of the two types of basic triangles and 3) the necessity to distinguish for the Receptacle conceived as place, both a spatial and a material dimension.