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Plato is aware of the periodicity of celestial phenomena and of the relative velocities of the planets, which are the elements of contemporary Babylonian astronomy.
Plato, Republic 529c-530b:
“Thus,” said I: “these sparks that paint the sky, since they are decorations on a visible surface, we must regard, to be sure, as the fairest and most exact of material things; but we must recognize that they fall far short of the truth, the movements, namely, of real speed and real slowness in true number and in all true figures both in relation to one another and as vehicles of the things they carry and contain. These can be apprehended only by reason and thought, but not by sight … we must use the blazonry of the heavens as patterns to aid in the study of those realities, just as one would do who chanced upon diagrams drawn with special care and elaboration by Daedalus or some other craftsman or painter. For anyone acquainted with geometry who saw such designs would admit the beauty of the workmanship, but would think it absurd to examine them seriously in the expectation of finding in them the absolute truth with regard to equals or doubles or any other ratio.” - “How could it be otherwise than absurd?” he said. “Do you not think,” said I, “that one who was an astronomer in very truth would feel in the same way when he turned his eyes upon the movements of the stars? He will be willing to concede that the artisan of heaven fashioned it and all that it contains in the best possible manner for such a fabric; but when it comes to the proportions of day and night, and of their relation to the month, and that of the month to the year, and of the other stars to these and one another, do you not suppose that he will regard as a very strange fellow the man who believes that these things go on for ever without change or the least deviation - though they possess bodies and are visible objects - and that his unremitting quest is the realities of these things? … It is by means of problems, then, as in the study of geometry, that we will pursue astronomy too, and we will let be the things in the heavens, if we are to have a part in the true science of astronomy and so convert to right use from uselessness that natural indwelling intelligence of the soul.
Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Plato, Republic 529c-530b
Bibliography
| Shorey 1963, II 182-189 | Shorey, Paul. Plato, The Republic. 2 Vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, London: Heinemann 1963. |
Links (external links will open in a new browser window)
Cf. Plato on the celestial phenomena (2)
Cf. Plato on the celestial phenomena (3)
Cf. Plato on the celestial phenomena (4)
Amar Annus
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