Chapter 4 - Mathematics and the Divine in Plato

Abstract

This chapter discusses two dialogues of Plato's philosophy—Timaeus and Republic. Plato played a significant role in the rapid development of Greek mathematics in the fourth century BCE. In the Timaeus, Plato describes the creation of cosmos by a benevolent creator god or maker, who tries to make the world as good as possible by making it resemble the forms as much as possible. Timaeus, which is named after the character who gives the discourse constituting most of the dialogue, is a description of the creation of the world by a benevolent god who strives to make the world as like the forms as possible. The most important form for god's creative activity is the form of living thing, a form including the forms of all living things and in imitation of which god creates the cosmos. For Plato, the cosmos is alive, and (by definition) that means it has a soul. It also has a mind and intelligence (nous). The central topic of the Republic is dikaiosunê, a term that applies to both social and political justice and to individual moral rectitude; it is standardly translated ‘justice’.