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Cognitive circuitry in the PseudoHippocratic Peri Diaites and Plato's
Timaeus
by John E. Sisko
It is widely acknowledged that, in the Timaeus, Plato draws
upon a number of theories that were advanced by his ItaloSicilian predecessors in natural science and medicine. Philolaus
and Archytas are among the Italian scientists who are thought to
have influenced Plato’s views on the mathematical structure of
the world, and Plato’s general debt to Sicilian medicine is
evident, owing to a number of mutually shared themes.’ The
Sicilians employed cosmological speculation when theorizing
about human physiology; they placed great emphasis on the
physician’s use of exercise and diet, as opposed to his use of
pharmaceuticals, in the treatment of his patients; and they held
the rather esoteric view that we breathe, not only through the
mouth and nose, but also through the skin.” Plato advances each
of these Sicilian themes in the Timaeus. He proposes an analogy
between human cognitive functioning and the motion of the
heavens (see Tim. 41A-44D); he champions the view that the
physician should focus on the regulation of diet and exercise, as
opposed to the use of drugs, in the treatment of patients (see
Tim. 89A-D); and he maintains that we breathe through our
skin (see Tim. 79C). These parallels mark a general Sicilian
influence upon Plato’s thought.’ Yer, suggestions have been
made concerning more specific influences. One such suggestion
can be found in the unpublished doctoral dissertation of A. L.
Peck. Peck argues that the account of soul in the first book of
the Sicilian medical treatise Peri Diaites (On Regimen) informs
Plato's treatment of the nutritive soul in the Timaeus.* Peck’s
* On Philolaus and Archytas see Huffman, 1993, pp.149-151 and Kahn, 2001,
p.56.
? See Longrigg, 1998, pp.67-68 and Jones 1979 (/1946), p.11.
> For more on the general influence of Sicilian (as opposed to Coan) medicine
upon Plato see A.E. Taylor, 1928, p.18 and Cornford, 1937, p.352.
* Peck writes, ‘The soul in peri diaites corresponds to the third soul in the
Timaeus and it behaves exactly as chat Soul behaves’ (Pseudo-Hippocrates Philosophus,
Page 2
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)Cognitive circuitry in the PseudoHippocratic Peri Diaites and Plato's
Timaeus
It is widely acknowledged that, in the Timaeus, Plato draws
upon a number of theories that were advanced by his ItaloSicilian predecessors in natural science and medicine. Philolaus
and Archytas are among the Italian scientists who are thought to
have influenced Plato’s views on the mathematical structure of
the world, and Plato’s general debt to Sicilian medicine is
evident, owing to a number of mutually shared themes.’ ‘The
Sicilians employed cosmological speculation when theorizing
about human physiology; they placed great emphasis on the
physician’s use of exercise and diet, as opposed to his use of
pharmaceuticals, in the treatment of his patients; and they held
the rather esoteric view that we breathe, not only through the
mouth and nose, but also through the skin.” Plato advances each
of these Sicilian themes in the Timaeus. He proposes an analogy
between human cognitive functioning and the motion of the
heavens (see Tim. 41A-44D); he champions the view that the
physician should focus on the regulation of diet and exercise, as
opposed to the use of drugs, in the treatment of patients (see
Tim. 89A-D); and he maintains that we breathe through our
skin (see Tim. 79C). These parallels mark a general Sicilian
influence upon Plato’s thought.’ Yet, suggestions have been
made concerning mote specific influences. One such suggestion
can be found in the unpublished doctoral dissertation of A. L.
Peck. Peck argues that the account of soul in the first book of
the Sicilian medical treatise Peri Diaites (On Regimen) informs
Plato's treatment of the nutritive soul in the Timaeus.* Peck’s
p.56.
* On Philolaus and Archytas see Huffman, 1993, pp.149-151 and Kahn, 2001,
* See Longrigg, 1998, pp.67-68 and Jones 1979 (/1946), p.11.
? For more on the general influence of Sicilian (as opposed to Coan) medicine
upon Plato see A.E. Taylor, 1928, p.18 and Cornford, 1937, p.352.
* Peck writes, “The soul in peri diaites corresponds to the third soul in the
Timaeus and it behaves exactly as that Soul behaves’ (Pseudo-Hippocrates Philosophus,
Page 3
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)analysis is surely correct, yet Peck only broaches the topic of
possible links between Peri Diaites and the Timaeus; for his
research focuses on just the first book of this crucial PseudoHippocratic work. I suggest that when we consider the whole of
Peri Diaites and, especially, when we consider the theme of the
physics of cognition, which is introduced in the first book and is
taken up again in the fourth book, a deep and programmatic
link berween Peri Diaites and the Timaeus emerges.’ In what
follows, I shall argue that the cognitive psychology and
cosmology advanced in Peri Diaites play crucial and substantive
roles in shaping both Plato’s theory of the human rational soul
and his account of the relation between the rational soul and the
heavens in the Timaeus.
Cambridge University Library, 1928, p.74). This ‘third soul’ is the appetitive (or
nutritive) soul, standing as third in rank within Plato’s tripartite hierarchy, behind the
spirited soul and the rational soul. Neither Peck nor Jones, who accepts Peck’s
assessment {see Jones, 1929, p. xliii), suggests that Peri Diaites may have influenced
Plato’s account of human reason in the Timaeus. (I would like to thank David Sedley
for providing me with access to a microfilm copy of Peck’s dissertation.)
5 There is little doubt that Peri Diaites was written about a half-century prior to
the writing of the Timaeus. While a broad range of possible dates for Peri Diates have
been suggested, the treatise is best dared to around 400 BC. (See both Jones, 1929, p.
xlii and Kahn 1994 (/1960) pp.189-90. Kahn, to my mind, soundly refutes Jaeger’s
contention that the text dates to around 350 BC.) The Timaeus was written late in
Plato’s career, mosr likely some time after his third visit to Sicily (362 BC) and
{obviously} prior to his death in 346 BC.
® My thesis is chiefly philological and historical. Nevertheless, if ic is sound, it
provides buttressing support for the literalist interpretation of Plato’s claims
concerning the shape, arrangement and structure of the human rational soul. Uatil
quite recently, it had long been unquestioningly accepted thar, when Plato writes of
the circular structure and motions of reason within the head (e.g. see Tim. 43B-44D,
47B-C, & 90A-D), he means this metaphorically. (See Archer-Hind, 1888, p.114;
Taran, 1971, p.34 & p.54; and Lee, 1976.) But, during the past decade, this
metaphorical incerpretation has come under attack by defenders of a lireralist view.
(See Sedley, 1999 (/1997), p.317-318; Johansen, 2000, pp.90-1; and Burnyeat, 2000,
p.46. Each of these authors acknowledges the influence of a contribution by Sarah
Broadie ro a May Week seminar on the Timaens at Cambridge University in 1993.
So, i¢ appears that Broadie sparked the move toward the literalist interpretation.)
Most recently, the emerging literalist interpretation has been counter-challenged by at
least one defender of the metaphorical view. (See Steel, 2001, p.125.} I show chat the
author of Peri Diaites maintains that the rational soul both possesses spatial properties
and engages in circular motion. Further, I argue char Plato, in the Tirmaens, accepts
and elaborates upon these very elements from Peri Diaites. So, my findings suggest
that Plato's assertions regarding the shape, structure and motion of the rational soul
are to be taken literally and not metaphorically.
Page 4
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)Let us begin with a single term: periodos. This term is
employed in Peri Diaites both in the author's discussion of the
human rational soul and in his account of the nature of the
heavens. Periodes, however, is seldom used in the writings of the
other early medical theorists. Further, it is rarely used in the
writings of the Pre-Socratic cosmologists. In fact, amongst all
the pre-Platonic philosophical, scientific and medical texts,
periodos plays a doctrinal role only in Peri Diaites. Yet, periodos is
employed with noteworthy frequency in the Timaeus and there
it plays a doctrinal role both in Plato’s discussion of the rational
soul and in his account of the heavens. The role periodos plays in
the Timaeus is strikingly similar to the role the term plays in Peri
Diaites and the similarity is too thoroughgoing to be a matter of
mere happenstance. The best explanation for the similarity is, as
I see it, the presence of a firm historical connection between
these two works,
The term periodos occurs 146 times in the extant writings of
the early medical theorists, Plato, and the major Pre-Socratic
cosmologists.’ Over half of these occurrences, 78, are in the
medical texts and the greatest numbers of these, 17, are in Peri
Diaites® In this Sicilian text, periodos is consistently used to
mean ‘circuit, or ‘way round’, and it is employed both in
describing celestial phenomena and in describing phenomena of
the human soul. While periodos occurs in other medical texts, it
is rarely used therein to mean ‘circuit. In most cases it is used
to mean something like ‘periodic’. With this meaning, it
typically marks intervals of time between the manifestations of
symptoms or the onslaught of fits of disease." In addition,
periodos is used both to mark the menstrual period and to refer
to prescribed walks." But, importantly, in the medical texts
* TLG search for ‘period-’ in Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Anaxagoras,
Empedocles, Democritus, Heraclitus, Hippocrates, Pseudo-Hippocrates, Plato,
Pythagoras and Xenophanes.
® See Peri Diaites 1.9.33, 1.10.17, 1.19.4, 1.35.56, 1.35.57, 2.66.22, 2.66.27,
3.71.9, 3.76.5, 4.89.10, 4.89.12, 4.89.48, 4.89.85, 4.89.88, 4.90.11, 4.90.29, and
4.93.27.
* Although, see both De Aere Equis 19.10 and De Capitus Vulneribus 21.21.
10 See De Natura Hominis 8.3, Prognosticon 7.19, Epidemics 11.13.19 & 2.1.4.1,
and Aphorisms 1.12.2 & 4.59.1.
" Regarding menstruation, see Epidemics 2.3.17.16. Regarding walks, see De
Affectionibus Interioribus 25.24, Epidemics 6.3.18.3, and Prorrbetic 2.3.25.
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Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)outside Peri Diaites, this term is not used to describe the
structure of the human soul.
In Plato’s dialogues, the term occurs 49 times and nearly
half of these occurrences, 23, are in the Timaeus.” (Most other
occurrences are in the Laws and Epinomis.”) In the Timaeus,
periodos is consistently used to mean ‘circuit’ and Plato employs
the term both in describing phenomena of the human rational
soul and in describing celestial phenomena. The Pre-Socratic
cosmologists, by contrast, rarely use the term. When describing
motions within the heavens, these authors tend to use terms
such as dinos (whirl), kuklos (circle), and strophe (twist)
14
Further, in those limited instances in which these authors
describe routes of organic motion within the body, they tend to
use terms such as phleps (vein), poros (pore), and suringos
(pipe).”
In Peri Diaites, the author claims that the human soul is
formed into three circuits (periodoi) and he asserts that these
circuits are copies of kindred circuits within the heavens. The
human soul is, in fact, a copy of the whole (apomimesin tou
holou: PD 1.10.3): it is a copy of the heavens. The soul is
comprised of an inner circuit, with the power of the moon; an
outer circuit, with the power of the stars; and an intermediary
circuit, with the power of the sun (PD 1.10.15-26). Such,
contends the author, is the nature that we have been given by
the celestial gods (PD 1.1 1.4-6).*° Regarding his chief interests,
prodiagnosis and therapeutics, the author maintains that our
12 See Timaeus 34A6, 38C8, 39B5, 39C2, 39C5, 39D5, 42C5, 43A5, 43D2,
44A4, 44B2, 44D3, 47A5, 47B7, 47D3, 58A5, 76A7, 83A2, 85A6, 86A7, 90D2, and
91E5.
15 A full 36 of the 49 occurrences of periodes in the Platonic corpus are in the
Timaeus, Laws and Epinomis.
4 For dinos, see Anaxagoras fr. 12.8 and Empedocles fr.35.4, For kuklos, see
Anaximander, testimonia, Fr. 11.15 and Empedocies fr. 26.1. For strophe, see
Heraclitus, resrimonia, fr.12.3.
5 For phleps, see Demecritus, testimonia, fr.87.1. For poros, see Democritus,
testimonia, fr.135.264 and Empedocles fr. 100.17. For suringos, see Empedocles fr.
100.2.
‘6 The author expands on the theme of copying the heavens in his discussion of
human craft (techre). He claims thac we have been taught various crafts by the gods so
that we might copy their divine functioning. These crafts include basket weaving, in
which circuits of reed are made to go round, beginning where they end (PD 1,19.15), and pottery making, in which the potter’s wheel spins round and round {PD
Page 6
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)health depends upon the balance of fire and water within the
body, together with the condition of the circuits of the soul.
Motion of the circuits must persist at a proper rate of speed.
Otherwise, our intelligence shall be diminished. If the motion of
our circuits is too fast, we shall come to make over-hasty
judgments (PD 1.35.101-107) and if the motion is too slow,
perception shall outstrip reason and we shall come to grasp
objects in only an unreliable and spasmodic fashion (PD
1.35.55-58). In addition, the author maintains that the circuits
of the soul must not be obstructed or in any way impeded
(PD1.35.40-41): these circuits must be permitted to flow freely
and naturally.
The author's therapeutic art is one of prescribing complex
regimens of diet and exercise (PD 3.69.10-14). Along with other
Sicilian medical theorists, the author sees little value in the use
of pharmaceuticals (PD 3.67.17-25). He does, however, go into
great detail concerning the value of a wide range of foods
(including not only the flesh of dogs, but also the flesh of
puppies: PD 2.46.23-26) and he stresses the importance of the
proper preparation of food (some foods should be grilled, others
boiled in water, and yet others boiled in vinegar: PD 3.81.1722). The author also discusses a host of exercise regimens
(showing, perhaps, an over-fondness for brisk runs on a circular
track and wrestling in dust: PD 3.81.22-24).
Regarding prodiagnosis, the author considers the
physiological signs of emerging disease (such as headaches,
flatulence, stomach pains, and loose stool: PD 3.73-75), but he
also considets the cognitive signs of emerging disease and, when
it comes to cognition, he takes special interest in the content of
dreams. The author asserts that the circuits of the soul are
cognitive circuits (these circuits are responsible for thought: PD
1.10.21-25) and he maintains that the soul never fails to be
active. Consequently, he claims that, during sleep, the soul
achieves independence from the body and ‘...administers its
own household...<remaining>...cognizant of all things’ (PD
4.86.9-12). Dreaming is, according to this author, the true
cognitive life of the soul: it is the one work that is entirely the
soul’s own.
The first signs of emerging illness are revealed in the celestial
content of dreams. In our dreams, the heavenly bodies may
Page 7
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)appear to be discolored or to be in someway disfigured; in
addition, they may appear to be frozen in place or to be moving
in odd directions (PD 4.89.74-95). These aberrations, the
author maintains, have as thetr immediate cause abnormalities in
the functioning of our cognitive circuitry and these
abnormalities amount to a lack of isomorphism between our
internal circuits and the circuits of the heavens. This becomes
evident once we consider the therapeutic regimens that the
author recommends in tesponse to aberrational dream content.
Regarding a patient who experiences aberrational content
concerning the stars, the author states,
It is beneficial for this man to make his runs long, wearing his cloak
the while, to increase them gradually, that he may perspire as freely
as possible, and after exercise to take long walks...and also use the
vapour-bath: for as the mischief lies in the outer circuit, it is
expedient to make the purgation through the skin.
(PD 4,89 17-27; trans. Jones, 1929)
For aberrational content concerning the moon, the author
recommends an emetic after acrid and salty foods, together with
voice-exercises (PD 4.89.27-36). He adds, ‘the revulsion must
be directed inwards because the harm showed itself at the hollow
part of the body’ (PD 4.89.36-38; trans. Jones}. Finally, for
aberrational content concerning the sun, the author asserts that
the underlying malady will be especially difficult to eliminate,
occupying, as it does, the intermediary cognitive circuit. He
claims, ‘It is necessary to effect the revulsions in both directions’
(PD 3.89.39-40) and he recommends long runs on a double
track, additional runs on a circular track, walks, and an emetic
(presumably, after acrid and salty foods) (PD 4.89.40-44). By
directing treatment toward precise spatial zones within the body,
our Sicilian theorist aims to return his patients’ internal circuits
to a state of isomorphism with the celestial circuits.
The author of Peri Diaites maintains that, when we are in
good health, the heavens appear in our dreams just as they truly
are in the waking world. Further, he holds that celestial content
in dreams is determined by the physical structure and motion of
our cognitive circuits. He does not merely defend the general
position that if one is to be in good health, one’s cognitive
circuitry must be functioning properly. He defends the specific
Page 8
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)position that if one’s cognitive circuitry is to function properly,
it must be maintained in a state that is kinetically and
structurally isomorphic to that of the kindred celestial circuits.
One is in good health when one’s own internal circuits of sun,
moon, and stars behave just as the heavenly circuits behave in
the waking world. Considerations of cognitive and celestial
circuitry are, thus, crucial to this author’s project and, for this
reason, it is evident that periodos plays a doctrinal role in Peri
Diaites. To reiterate: first, the author of this Sicilian text relies
on an account of circuits (perioder) when advancing his theory of
structural and kinetic kinship between the human soul and the
heavens. Second, he contends that one is, as a whole, healthy,
when the circuits of one’s soul are in a dynamic state of
isomorphism with their kindred celestial circuits. Third, the
author asserts that the key to maintaining this state of
isomorphism is proper regimen in diet and exercise. And,
finally, he not only argues that important signs of emerging
disease are found in the celestial content of dreams, but he also
asserts that celestial content in dreams is determined by the state
of our internal cognitive circuitry.
In Plato's Timaeus, the world-soul (i.e. the soul of the
heavens) is formed by a divine craftsman. This soul consists of a
pair of circuits: a circuit of the same and a circuit of the other.
The first circuit is responsible for the motion of the fixed stars,
while the second circuit, having been divided into seven distinct
loops, is responsible for the motion of the sun, the moon and
the five known planets (Tim. 34B9-36D8). The world-soul
revolves unceasingly and its life of circular motion is a blessed
and intellectual life (Tim. 34A2-3 & 36C1-D1). The craftsman
also creates the human rational soul and he forms this soul as a
likeness of the world-soul. Our soul is constructed out of the
same material as the world-soul and it consists of a circuit of the
same and a circuit of the other (Tim. 41D4-E1 & 44D2-5). The
human rational soul first comes into existence situated within
the heavens. Each rational soul has its own native star, which
serves as its initial abode. While residing on its native star, the
rational soul, like the world-soul, enjoys a blessed and
intellectual life (77m. 42B8-9). But the rational soul ultimately
comes to be placed within a perishable body. It comes to be
situated within the human skull, while two lesser mortal souls (a
Page 9
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)spirited soul and a nutritive soul) are sited below within the
torso (Tim. 69C1-70A2).
As Plato sees it, the body is a cause of much mischief for the
rational soul. Rectilinear and upward tending motions, caused
by perception, growth, and nutritive functioning, disrupt the
motions of the rational soul and, owing to such bodily
influences, the rational soul becomes twisted and convoluted
(Tim. 43D10-E3). Being waylaid by irrational forces, we
ourselves become irrational. We become foolish and err in
judgment whenever our cognitive circuits fail either to have their
proper shape or to engage in their proper motion (7im. 44A5).
Plato contends that these mischievous rectilinear motions are
most powerful when we are young (Tim. 44A10-B2).
Accordingly, on his account, each of us comes into this world
lacking cognitive health. And, under these circumstances, we
cannot simply seek to maintain health. We must first seek to
regain health and, by regaining our intellectual health, Plato
contends, we earn the right to return to our native star: we earn
the right to return to a life that is both blessed and rational. In
order to regain health, we must initially rely on therapeutic
intervention. According to Plato, we must appropriately regulate
diet and exercise in order to minimize the traffic of rectilinear
motions within the head. By minimizing this traffic, we protect
our cognitive circuitry from any further damage or distortion
(Tim. 85A1-B7).
At this point, a number of similarities have become evident.
Like the author of Peri Diaites, Plato advances a theory of
kinship between the human rational soul and the heavens and,
while his own cosmology and cognitive psychology are certainly
more complex, Plato, like his Sicilian predecessor, explains this
underlying kinship in terms of parallels between our cognitive
circuitry and the circuitry of the heavens. Further, Plato, like the
author of Peri Diaites, asserts that we have intellectual health
when our cognitive circuits function well. In addition, he
stresses the importance of proper diet and exercise. But, here,
Plato’s view is somewhat different from that which is advanced
in Peri Diaites, According to our Sicilian author, proper diet and
exercise are sufficient for health, while, for Plato, these are
merely necessary for health. Diet and exercise alone do not
repair the damage that has already been done to our cognitive
Page 10
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)circuitry: good regimen only wards off any further (or future)
damage. Yet, Plato’s therapeutic art is not limited to the
mundane balancing of diet and exercise: his art has a second
component. This, oddly enough, is the study of astronomy: the
study of the heavens. Astronomy is, for Plato, a form of
intellectual diet and exercise. He states,
...the way of tendance (therapeia) of every part by every man is one
— namely, to supply each with its own congenial food and motion
(trophas kai kineseis); and for the divine part within us the congenial
motions are the intellections and revolutions of the Universe. These
each one of us should follow, rectifying the revolutions (periodous)
within our head, which were distorted at birth, by learning the
harmonies and revolutions of the Universe, and thereby making the
part that thinks like unto the object of thought, in accordance with
its original nature...
(Tima, 90C8-D6; trans. Bury).
The study of astronomy is, for Plato, a form of therapy. On
Plato’s view, we come to realign and redirect our own internal
7 Ar first blush, Plato, here, seems to treat astronomy as sufficient for our best
mode of existence. Yet, if this were Plato’s exact meaning, then the claim would be
highly problematical; for, in Republic book VII, Plato treats astronomy as one of five
bridge disciplines, leading the philosopher toward contemplation of the Forms. He
treats astronomy as a propaedeutic discipline and, considered as such, astronomy
cannot stand alone as sufficient for human fulfillment. Attempts co soften the
perceived conflict between Plato's claim, at Tim. 90D, and che content of Republic
book VII have not been fully successful. Scholars have proposed limitations upon the
scope of Plato’s claim, in the Timaeus, so as to allow it to be viewed as being
consistent with the account of astronomy in the Republic. But, unfortunately, only
very sketchy text-based evidence has been found in support of che proposed
limitations. (Sedley maintains that Plato’s claim at Tim. 90D is given from the point
of view of physics (see Sedley, 1999 (/1997), p.327). He cites other passages in the
Timaeus in which claims are made phusikos, but he does not offer a direct justification
for viewing Tim. 90D as falling within this precise context. Betegh takes Tim. 47A-C
to provide a more complete articulation of Plato’s claim at Tim. 90D (see Betegh,
2003, p.297). Yet, while at Tim. 47A-C Plato does maintain that considerations of
the motions of the heavens are only a means toward a higher end, he does not actually
discuss the science of astronomy in this passage: he discusses only our initial
perceptual acquaintance with the heavens.) It is, perhaps, not unreasonable to
construe my thesis as providing a rationale for taking Plato’s claim, at Tim. 90D, to
have limited scope. I show that the claim falls squarely within a governing medical
context: the context of bringing the individual person to a state of general intellectual
health. This context may well be sufficiently limited, when compared to the larger
epistemological plan of the Republic, ro allow astronomy, in the Timaeus, to be viewed
as playing no more than a propaedeuric role in the philosopher’s ascent.
Page 11
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)circuits by studying the structure and motion of the heavenly
circuits. The study of the heavens, thus, allows us to return our
own cognitive circuits to a state of structural and kinetic
isomorphism with the divine circuits of the world-soul. This
study returns us to the original state that each of us had once
enjoyed on his or her own native star.
Plato’s discussion of astronomy is tied to the discussion of
dreams in Peri Diaites. According to our Sicilian author,
accurate cognition of celestial phenomena in dreams stands as a
key sign of intellectual health. Cognition, in dreams, is the soul’s
pure activity: the work which it engages in when it is truly
mistress of its own household. Plato seems to rely on this very
account. Yet, he is an innovator and he modifies the account in
two ways: first, he transforms what is initially an accurate grasp
of celestial phenomena into the intellectual comprehension of
the science of the celestial region: astronomy. And, second, he
transforms that which is initially linked to signs of health into a
discipline that is sufficient (when conjoined with proper
regimen in diet and exercise) for regaining health. The study of
astronomy is, for Plato, a therapeutic and restorative mode of
cognition and such cognition is, as he sees it, an activity that
reason is meant to engage in when it is truly mistress of its own
household.
In conclusion, I hope to have shown that there is, most
likely, a strong historical connection between Plato’s Timaeus
and the medical treatise Peri Diaites. First, it is in Peri Diattes
that we initially discover the notion that the human soul has
circuits (periodoi) that are akin to heavenly circuits. Second, it is
in this treatise that we are first told that if one is to be healthy,
one’s cognitive circuits must be in a dynamic state of
isomorphism with their kindred celestial circuits. Third, it is in
Peri Diaites that we first learn that proper regimen in diet and
exercise is linked to the healthy functioning of one’s cognitive
circuitry. And, finally, it is in this treatise that we first learn that
there is a type of cognition regarding the heavenly circuits that is
tied to the proper operation of one’s own cognitive circuits.
Although Plato innovates upon some of these basic themes, he is
essentially in agreement with the author of Peri Diaites. So, it is
reasonable to hold that the Sicilian medical treatise Peri Diaites
has a significant influence upon Plato’s thought, in the Timaeus,
Page 12
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)concerning human cognitive circuitry and its relation to celestial
circuitry.
JOHN E. SISKO
The College of New Jersey
B An earlier version of this paper was presented at Newcastle University
(Newcastle, U.K.) in August 2005. I would like to thank Professor Philip J. van der
Eijk both for his hospitality and for his especially helpful comments.
Page 13
Voir dans le PDF(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)Bibliography
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Betegh, G., 2003: “Cosmological Ethics in the Timaeus and
Early Stoicism’, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 24,
273-302
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‘Taylor, A.E., 1928: A Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus, Oxtord
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