English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

In this paper I first address what I consider a central issue in the account of perception in Plato’s  Timaeus , namely, how the  pathemata  pass through the body to reach the soul, and thus become  aistheseis . My point in  Section 1  is that in tackling this issue Plato aims to provide a firm physiological basis to the notion of perception that starts to emerge in the  Theaetetus  and the  Philebus  and is crucial to the late development of his theory of cognition. In the ensuing section I try to put the account of perception in the  Timaeus  into a historical perspective, aiming to highlight two points: a) Plato’s description of the way in which sensible impressions “travel” inside the body and interact with its parts and other constituents is largely indebted to previous theories, such as those we find, for example, in Empedocles and a few Hippocratic writers; b) The leading role in this story (where internal air plays a significant supporting role) is played by blood flowing through the vascular system and thus performing a crucial cognitive function. Moreover, emphasizing the role of blood as well as analyzing the elaborate way in which perceptions are transmitted through the body to the soul proves vital to appreciate (in  Section 3 ) the cognitive status of the lower parts of the soul (which are more involved in perception) and their relation to reason. Overall, the paper adds further elements to our understanding of Plato’s embodied approach to cognition.   I had already written (and submitted) this article when  Johansen (2021)  was published. The latter’s approach to the role of blood in Plato’s physiology of knowledge in the  Timaeus  converges in part with mine (as I was pleased to find out), partly due to our overlapping sources and bibliography.

Blood and the Awareness of Perception. From Early Greek Thought to Plato’s Timaeus