Plato, the Medicine, and the Paraphrase on the Timaeus in the Anonymus Londiniensis Papyrus

Abstract

Abstract: This article aims to give a critical and up to date survey on the medical theories expounded in the Timaeus, trying to make clear to which extent Plato took an interest in medicine, which medical issues in the dialogue are original and which are not. In providing an extended treatment of the medical ideas contained in the Timaeus, the Anonymus Londiniensis papyrus is also of assistance in this sense. This paper highlights those points on which the papyrus differs from the Platonic text, providing thus insight into Plato’s etiological assumptions.