Critical Evaluation of Gadamer’s Interpretation of Plato’s Timaeus

Abstract

In Idea and Reality in Plato's Timaeus (Idee und Wirklichkeit in Platos Timaios) Gadamer criticised the neoplatonist interpretation of Plato's cosmogony, which posited the universe's emanation from “The One'' in a hierarchical manner. Contrary to this, by interpreting Timaeus according to overall text analysis of Plato's dialectics, Gadamer argued that the universe came from the logos' efforts in organising various unordered materials to become more mathematically ordered. The purpose of this research was to critically evaluate his hermeneutical stance. A conceptual analysis has been conducted through an extensive and rigorous literature review to fulfill the research objectives. The result indicated that there was an inconsistency between Gadamer’s interpretation of Timaeus and his hermeneutical thesis in his masterpiece Truth and Method (Wahrheit und Methode). He interpreted Timaeus textually as if he had undermined his own philosophical hermeneutics framework, focusing on the pre-structure of understanding that contained prejudice and authority. This research will give a new perspective in reconsidering the complexities of interpretation itself and enrich ongoing dialogues both within the discourse on Plato's dialogues and Gadamer's own hermeneutical framework.