Book description
Timaeus and Critias
is a Socratic dialogue in two parts. A response to an account of an
ideal state told by Socrates, it begins with Timaeus s theoretical
exposition of the cosmos and his story describing the creation of the
universe, from its very beginning to the coming of man. Timaeus
introduces the idea of a creator God and speculates on the structure and
composition of the physical world. Critias
, the second part of Plato s dialogue, comprises an account of the rise
and fall of Atlantis, an ancient, mighty and prosperous empire ruled by
the descendents of Poseidon, which ultimately sank into the sea.
Plato (c. 427 347 b. c.) founded the Academy in Athens, the
prototype of all Western universities, and wrote more than twenty
philosophical dialogues.
Thomas Kjeller Johansen studied philosophy and classics at Trinity
College, Cambridge. He is now University Lecturer in Ancient
Philosophy at Oxford University and Tutorial Fellow of Brasenose
College, Oxford. His publications include Plato s Natural
Philosophy. A Study of the Timaeus-Critias (Cambridge 2004).
