Timaeus Beauty And Order Essay

In Timaeus’ account of the cosmos; beauty, order, and intelligence work as one to sustain the existence of the cosmos. The world was made as a likeness of the creator because he was perfect and good, so the world was given intellect and soul. The cosmos themselves are the most beautiful thing to be created. Intelligence is necessary for beauty, and order is necessary for existence. The universe was transformed from chaos into order, things that are chaotic do not exist to us. The creator got rid of chaos by bringing beautiful order which then brought us the cosmos, without this order we would not exist.

Our existence is only possible due to our position in the cosmos. If Earth did not exist in its current orderly position, man would not exist and that is why we owe our existence to the order of the cosmos. “And in order that there be some manifest measure of their relative …show more content…
“And so, when each body (as many of them as were needed for the fashioning of time) had attained the course that was fitting for itself, and when they had been begotten as animals bound with ensouled bonds and had learned what was ordered them, they went around according to the course of Other, which is slanted and goes through the course of the Same and is mastered by it – this one among them going in a greater circle, that one going in a lesser, those in the lesser circle going around more swiftly, while those in the greater more slowly.” (pg. 68, 39A). Everything was given a certain order which allows the movement of the cosmos. An example of order is the animal kingdom. Animals are placed together in the wild because they balance each other out. They work together to stay alive, just as we move together to keep the cosmos in order. Each animal plays his part, in his order and together they are whole. Order was made to be proportional, and correct proportions leads to being