Timaeus book club questions

The reading plan

Meeting 1: Parts 1 to 2

1. Does an ideal city need to reflect cosmic order? Why or why not?
2. What might Critias's account of an ancient Athenian victory contribute to a discussion of an ideal city?
3. What would make Timaeus's explanation of creation convincing to you?
4. How does linking human reason to celestial motion change your view of what reasoning is?
5. How much responsibility should people bear for reasoning affected by bodily disturbance?

Meeting 2: Parts 3 to 4

6. Does explaining bodily change through triangles make it easier or harder to understand?
7. What would an account of creation need to explain about the receiving medium to satisfy you?
8. How might introducing necessity change your reading of divine construction?
9. How far can motion and compression take us toward understanding human experience?
10. What does placing matter and perception together suggest about how we know the world?

Meeting 3: Parts 5 to 6

11. How should bodily causes of mental illness affect judgments about personal responsibility?
12. Does explaining aging through divine design make aging seem more purposeful, or does it leave the same questions?
13. What does an explanation of divine design need to say about bodily disorders to be convincing?
14. How would you decide what counts as balanced training?
15. How much control over health does balanced training suggest, given the bodily causes of mental illness?

Themes to talk about

Tips for the host

1. Open each meeting with one question everyone can answer, then go deeper.
2. Anyone who fell behind can catch up with the 15-minute summary.