One Book, The Whole Universe

The much-anticipated anthology on Platos TimaeusPlatos singular dialogue on the creation of the universe, the nature of the physical world, and the place of persons in the cosmosexamining all dimensions of one of the most important books in Western Civilization: its philosophy, cosmology, science, and ethics, its literary aspects and reception. Contributions come from leading scholars in their respective fields, including Sir Anthony Leggett, 2003 Nobel Laureate for Physics. Parts of or earlier versions of these papers were first presented at the Timaeus Conference, held at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign in September of 2007. To this day, Platos Timaeus grounds the form of ethical and political thinking called Natural Lawthe view that there are norms in nature that provide the patterns for our actions and ground the objectivity of human values. Beyond the intellectual content of the dialogues core, its literary frame is also the source of the myth of Atlantis, giving the West the concept of the lost world. From Platonic space to Presocratic vortices, from Philosopher-Kings to Craftsman-Gods and from modern physics to the myth of Atlantis, One Book, The Whole Universe presents in one volume the most up-to-date and penetrating scholarship on Platos Timaeus by some of the greatest minds alive today.