Professor Alex Long (University of St Andrews), “The city-cosmos contrast in Plato’s Timaeus and Critias”
Abstract: Plato’s Timaeus and Critias offer a puzzling combination of cosmology and the political quasi-history of ancient Athens and Atlantis. Previous discussions have taken Plato’s aim to be naturalizing the political theory or likening political lawgivers to the creator of the world. Alex Long argues that the relation should be seen as a contrast: the natural world provides direct empirical access to an everlasting educative model, whereas in the political sphere such models are typically unavailable. Plato’s aim in combining the two stories is not to lend support to his political claims, or to present an aggrandizing view of legislation as similar to the creation of the world, but to show the possibility of proper moral development in a flawed political environment.
Bio: Alex Long is Professor of Classics at the University of St Andrews. He works on early Greek philosophy, Plato, Hellenistic philosophy and Roman philosophy, and his publications include Death and Immortality in Ancient Philosophy (CUP 2019) and Conversation and Self-Sufficiency in Plato (OUP 2013). Together with Voula Tsouna he edits the book series Key Themes in Ancient Philosophy, and he and Thomas Johansen are the editors of the journal Phronesis.
Hybrid seminar
When: 3 March, 2026 @ 6:00 pm-7:00 pmEET
Where: British School at Athens, Upper House – Athens – 52 Souedias Street
For more information, see https://www.bsa.ac.uk/events/alex-long-the-city-cosmos-contrast-in-platos-timaeus-and-critias/