Plato’s Timaeus details the creation and making of the cosmos. In many ways it mirrors Aristotle’s account of causality as described in his Physics and Metaphysics. Aristotle believes all things have 4 causes and Plato’s description of the creation is very similar to these causes. The material, formal, efficient and final causes are seen clearly in Timaeus as the elements, model, craftsman and the good, which all cause the cosmos.
Timaeus says that the Cosmos came into being by a craftsman. The craftsman, also referred to as the Demiurge, is a perfect, eternal entity that crafted the beautiful universe out of reason and prudence. The craftsman is the “best of causes” of the universe and therefore is supremely good Timaeus writes. The Demiurge …show more content…
Before the construction of the universe, everything that was visible was not beautiful, but rather out of order. Timaeus explains that the cosmos was constructed of 4 elements: water, air, fire, and earth. These elements were put in order, and became the cosmos. All things in the cosmos are made up of one of these elements, or a combination of elements. Aristotle would call the elements the material cause of the universe . Aristotle describes the material cause as simply the physical matter that something consists of. Materials that are constructed and formed together to create something. The materials that were used to create the universe were all used, so that the universe would be whole and perfect, and nothing else could be made out of the …show more content…
The visible was constructed into beautiful harmony. How was the beautiful determined? Timaeus says that the universe was made in the image of a model. The model is what the Demiurge used to determine the look and power of the cosmos. He looked at the model, and tried to make the universe just as beautiful and ordered as the model was. But there were some challenges doing so. The cosmos is made up of tangible elements, but the Model is not physical, so the demiurge could not create an entirely perfect replica of the Model. Secondly, the Model was eternal which made it difficult to create an eternal cosmos with a beginning. So the Demiurge made the Cosmo with unending time as the best way to mirror the Model’s immortality. The model the craftsman used was described as an animal with a soul , so the Demiurge created the universe like an animal, with parts and a soul. The model was essentially the plans that the demiurge looked at to construct the universe. A formal cause according to Aristotle is just that: a plan that something is constructed according to. A formal cause determines the characteristics of the object being caused, and helps the efficient cause (in this case the Craftsman) construct the object.
With all this being said, the question remains: why did the Demiurge create the Cosmos? This is what Aristotle refers to as the final cause . It is the final purpose of the object, the reason why it came
Timaeus says that the Cosmos came into being by a craftsman. The craftsman, also referred to as the Demiurge, is a perfect, eternal entity that crafted the beautiful universe out of reason and prudence. The craftsman is the “best of causes” of the universe and therefore is supremely good Timaeus writes. The Demiurge …show more content…
Before the construction of the universe, everything that was visible was not beautiful, but rather out of order. Timaeus explains that the cosmos was constructed of 4 elements: water, air, fire, and earth. These elements were put in order, and became the cosmos. All things in the cosmos are made up of one of these elements, or a combination of elements. Aristotle would call the elements the material cause of the universe . Aristotle describes the material cause as simply the physical matter that something consists of. Materials that are constructed and formed together to create something. The materials that were used to create the universe were all used, so that the universe would be whole and perfect, and nothing else could be made out of the …show more content…
The visible was constructed into beautiful harmony. How was the beautiful determined? Timaeus says that the universe was made in the image of a model. The model is what the Demiurge used to determine the look and power of the cosmos. He looked at the model, and tried to make the universe just as beautiful and ordered as the model was. But there were some challenges doing so. The cosmos is made up of tangible elements, but the Model is not physical, so the demiurge could not create an entirely perfect replica of the Model. Secondly, the Model was eternal which made it difficult to create an eternal cosmos with a beginning. So the Demiurge made the Cosmo with unending time as the best way to mirror the Model’s immortality. The model the craftsman used was described as an animal with a soul , so the Demiurge created the universe like an animal, with parts and a soul. The model was essentially the plans that the demiurge looked at to construct the universe. A formal cause according to Aristotle is just that: a plan that something is constructed according to. A formal cause determines the characteristics of the object being caused, and helps the efficient cause (in this case the Craftsman) construct the object.
With all this being said, the question remains: why did the Demiurge create the Cosmos? This is what Aristotle refers to as the final cause . It is the final purpose of the object, the reason why it came