Le chaos pré-cosmique dans le Timée

Abstract

In this article, we provide an analysis of the description of the pre-cosmic chaos and the function of this description within the context of the theory of participation which can be reconstructed in Plato’s Timaeus. More specifically, we will assume that the pre-cosmic chaos represents a counterfactual situation in which the universe is conceived without the action of the intelligible. This counterfactual state will be considered as an initial sequence allowing to visualize in a quasi-spatial way how the phenomenon of participation operates. We will give a detailed analysis of the passage (52d4-53b7) in order to integrate it as a sequence of what we will call the anatomy of participation. In our study, two more questions will be examined: i) the representation of the sensible without the intelligible in Plato’s works (Timaeus, Statesman, Philebus, Parmenides) and ii) the role of world soul as a possible cause of all movements in the universe (Timaeus and Laws).