Proclus on Nature : philosophy of nature and its methods in proclus' Commentary on Plato's Timaeus

Martijn, M.

Persistent URL of this record https://hdl.handle.net/1887/12664

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Martijn, M. (2008)

Proclus on Nature : philosophy of nature and its methods in proclus' Commentary on Plato's Timaeus

Doctoral Thesis

One of the hardest questions to answer for a (Neo)platonist is to what extent and how the changing and unreliable world of sense perception can itself be an object of scientific knowledge. My dissertation is a study of the answer given to that question by the Neoplatonist Proclus (Athens, 411-485) in his Commentary on Plato__s Timaeus. I present a new explanation of Proclus__ concept of nature and show that philosophy of nature consists of several related subdisciplines matching the ontological stratification of nature. Moreover, I demonstrate that for Proclus philosophy of nature is a science, albeit a hypothetical one, which takes geometry as its methodological paradigm. I also offer an explanation of Proclus__ view of what is later called the mathematization of physics, i.e. the role of the substance of mathematics, as opposed to its method, in explaining the natural world. Finally, I discuss Proclus__ views of the discourse of philosophy of nature and its iconic character.