PLATON I MODERNE PRIRODNE NAUKE
PLATO AND MODERN NATURAL SCIENCES

Summary/Abstract: There are almost irreconcilable differences between Plato’s notion of science (episteme) and the modern notion, but also certain similarities. In the late dialogues such as The Theaetetus, The Philebus, and The Timaeus, Plato redefines his own notion of knowledge developed in The Republic to some extent. Genuine knowledge does not refer solely to the unchangeable aspects of reality. Plato’s characterization of cosmology as an eikos logos (“likely story”) in The Timaeus is an anticipation of the concept of falsifiability that dominates modern philosophy of science. Experience and observation, as well as mathematical, psychological and biological concepts, occupy a significant, indispensable place within the structure of Timaeus’ cosmological model.

• Details
• Contents