Platonic Cosmology: A Terrestrial Pedagogy

Abstract

William L. Craig defines cosmology as “a posterior argument for a cause or reason for the cosmos.” As a posterior argument, cosmology first assures the existence of the cosmos and then articulates the reason for the co-existence of the cosmos with human beings. In other words, a posterior cosmological argument offers both descriptive and prescriptive account of the relationship between human beings and the cosmos. To a large extent, such cosmological arguments shape and reflect our attitudes and actions toward the cosmos — the world we inhabit. Within such a posterior framework, Platonic cosmology attempts to provide a reasonable account of the origin and purpose of the cosmos as related to human existence. Plato states: “now every thing that becomes or is created must of necessity be created by some cause, for without a cause nothing can be created.” On the one hand, Platonic cosmology embraces an organic worldview. In his own words, the whole cosmos is “a living creature containing within itself all living creatures, mortal and immoral” (Timaeus 69c). The well-ordered and harmonious cosmos described by Plato can be compared to a balanced ecosystem widely endorsed by contemporary environmental ethicists. On the other hand, since the doctrine of Forms is the cornerstone of Platonism, it is common to overlook such ecologically congenial aspect of Platonic cosmology. After all, this living world is merely an image of the world of Forms. Thus, contemporary environmental ethicists such as J. Baird Callicott regard Platonic dualism (the transcendent world vs. physical world) as one of the conceptual roots of environmental problems. More specifically, the doctrine of Platonic Forms appears to suggest that rational human beings are the agents that superimpose a rational order upon the passive and chaotic natural world. It is not surprising that Al Gore claims that “the Platonic assumption” is that human beings as “disembodied spiritual intellects hovering above the material world” need not care about the world of nature.