From Library Journal
Considered by most scholars to be one of Plato's last works, the Timaeus is less philosophical dialog than rhetorical display. Though it begins with Socrates reviewing his previous day's discussion of the various institutions of the ideal state, the majority of the text is taken up by Timaeus' long philosophical disquisition on the creation of the world. Because the text sets out the foundations of a number of sciences (astronomy, chemistry, cosmology, and physics, to name just a few), it became a central text of Platonism in later antiquity and in the Middle Ages and is still studied as a central element in the canon of Plato's thought. Under the capable editorship of Reydams-Schils (liberal studies, Univ. of Notre Dame), the present volume brings together 13 essays by scholars from the United States, Europe, and Canada that address the influence and cultural status of the Timaeus since its appearance more than two millennia ago. Reydams-Schils's well-written and perceptive introduction deals with the reasons for the dialog's special place in Western thought and also serves to introduce the essays themselves, which deal with topics as wide-ranging as its influence on our perception of the mind-body relation (Richard Sorabji), the Timaeus and Renaissance science (M.J.B. Allen), and the relationship between the Timaeus and the Chaldaean Oracles (Luc Brisson). This collection is an excellent and reasonably priced support to studies of Plato's dialogs in general and the Timaeus in particular. Recommended for all academic libraries and larger public libraries with collections in the origins of Western thought.
Terry Skeats, Bishop's Univ. Lib., Lennoxville, Quebec
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Terry Skeats, Bishop's Univ. Lib., Lennoxville, Quebec
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
