La legge dell'armonia nella composizione degli elementi, tra immanenza e trascendenza

Abstract

Heraclitus’ equilibrium is a conflictual one, it is based on the recognition that there is a wisdom within the elements; Plato’s equilibrium is proportional and finds in the tension towards the transcendet law the composition of a second nature, produced by a technique aiming to recompose disorder once it has occurred. However, disorder is possible only starting from an original and invisible order that has to be brought to light, following the maieutic, or imposed by the philosopher king or by the law of the State. In this article I argue how two types of law emerge in the exchange that Plato carries out with Heraclitus: a law which is immanent to the elements themselves, but unstable and prone to destruction, and a transcendent law that functions as an orientation for divine and human actions. This transcendent law is configured, in turn, in two modalities: as a law of invisible harmony that must be followed, and as a positive law that must be imposed due to the instability of the elements which are unable to maintain a given form.