Cosmos and Perception in Plato's Timaeus by Mark Eli Kalderon;

Author:Mark Eli Kalderon;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Unlimited)
Published: 2023-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

6.3 The Eye and the Body Proper to the Day

The Young Gods’ present task is the construction of the face, the forward part of the vessel of the head. The face is arrayed with organs for the forethought of the soul, and the eyes are the first of the organs that the Young Gods construct (45a–b). How are the eyes organs for the forethought of the soul? And why are they a priority for the Young Gods?

Forethought, here, carries suggestions of distance and time. If one can see something in the distance one can reason how best to act in the time before encountering it (Calcidius, In Timaeum 230). This may be of vital concern should what is seen be predator or prey. Thus, Alcinous speaks of the senses as guardians of the ruling part (Didaskalikos 17 173.10). Though strictly non-Platonic, the aptness of the image is manifest in the frequency with which it is repeated (see, for example, Philo, De opificio mundi 139, Legum allegoriarum 3 115, Galen, De placitis Hippocratis et Plotonis 2.4 120, and Calcidius, In Timaeum 231). Timaeus is hinting right at the beginning that vision is a great benefit to humanity. Moreover, as we shall see, the benefit is not narrowly confined to its survival value. The temporal implications of forethought are especially important. By means of vision, we have a view of the revolutions of the Heavens and so can distinguish days and nights, months, and years. In observing these, we acquire the art of number and even greater feats of forethought are made possible in both agriculture and seafaring. In exercising our reason in acquiring and deploying number, we become capable of engaging even in philosophy. Moreover, in so doing, we align the circles in the immortal part of our soul with the circles in the World Soul whose movement is visibly manifest in the revolution of the Heavens. We see divine thought visibly manifest and thus may offset the disturbing effects of the shock of embodiment. In this way, is vision the greatest benefit that the Gods bestow upon us? Notice that in answering our first question, concerning the eyes as organs for the forethought of the soul, we have also answered our second question, concerning the priority of the eyes. The eyes are a priority for the Young Gods precisely because they are the greatest benefit to humanity. This issue of priority will be echoed in Timaeus’ later discussion of the affections peculiar to particular parts of the body (65b–68e), for there, he will discuss the parts of the body whose affection is liable to give rise to perception or sensation in ascending order of ethical significance culminating with the eyes (Chapter 8.1).

The Timaean anatomy of the eye is broadly Empedoclean (DK 31B84–88). Each represents the eye as the product of divine craftsmanship, with the Young Gods in Timaeus’ account playing Aphrodite’s role in Empedocles’. Each maintains that there is a fire in the eye, likened to light, that flows through the center owing to its fineness.

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