Proclus’ prolegomena on the ontological status of time

Abstract

ΙntroductionThe extensive commentary -basically the systematic treatise -of the Neoplatonist philosopher Proclus (412-485) In Platonis Timaeum (Εἰς τὸν Τίμαιον Πλάτωνος) is perhaps the supreme attempt at the systematic formulation of ancient Greek cosmology. The development of the treatise would be characterized as dramatic, as its historic material is ten centuries old. In this treatise, as a whole, the method the philosopher implements and the deductions to which he is led correspond to the strict laws of a logically structured scientific composition proceeding in terms of geometrical theorems by means of an internal explanation to a large extent. Ac cording to Proclus' research, the theoretical branch of cosmology should describe and explain the world of tangible experience in every detail mainly by means of the use of the analytical method. On the other hand, it should seek to identify the productive causes and archetypal powers that allowed this world to acquire existence and the laws according to which it functions. Here, too, Proclus pro ceeds to the formulation of synthetic judgments and of interpretative hypothe ses or even proposals. He considers that the above metaphysical realities always feed with energy the natural world but without any alteration concerning their ontological state. They are transcendent and ontologically superior to the world in the context of the principle of the Platonic tradition where the metaphysical world has and permanently preserves its superiority to the natural. This position reaches its extreme limits in Neoplatonism, since the metaphysical world receives an inexhaustible number of radical superlative predications. Thus, the world of the divine is characterized in perpetuity as an emanating reality. Realism is evi dent here with clear metaphysical foundations. Nevertheless, Proclus claims that both worlds present fixed analogies between them, despite the fact that their on tological differences are taken for granted. Concerning this theoretical parameter he leads the Platonic tradition to the culmination of its consequences. Whatever