Psychogony: Did the World Soul come into being (in time)?

Abstract

The Timaeus says that the World Soul has come to be and that it was generated before the world’s body (34b10–35a1). This chapter investigates two interwoven questions, i.e., whether the World Soul’s generation takes place in time and whether its priority with respect to the cosmos’ body should be understood in chronological terms. By addressing these questions, I shall explore how Plato’s account of psychogony is related to the controversial issue of the creation of the cosmos and of time, as well as to the explanation of motion in the pre-cosmic state. In addition, I shall consider the implications for the World Soul’s “creation” in the light of the Phaedrus, where the soul is explicitly described as ungenerated. By taking into account the views of some ancient commentators alongside those of modern scholars, I shall argue that the contradiction between the two dialogues is only apparent. Finally, I shall show that while the literal and the metaphorical reading of the psychogony each have their strengths and weaknesses, the latter is preferable as to the World Soul’s “birth” and especially as to its priority with respect to the cosmos’ body.

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