The Nous Doctrine in Plato’s Thought

Abstract The article argues that the doctrine that nous rules the world plays a decisive role in the development of Plato’s thought, despite the strong critique of Anaxagoras in the Phaedo and the absence of the doctrine in other middle dialogues such as the Republic. It addresses the Timaeus as a transformative rehabilitation of the nous doctrine, through the ‘world-soul,’ the demiurge, and the class of other gods. It then considers the ways this schema is modified in later dialogues (Statesman, Philebus, Laws) in light of the suppression of the problem of natural disaster in the Timaeus.