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Chapter 3 - Plato and the Moralization of Daimonification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2020

M. David Litwa
M. David Litwa
Affiliation:
Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
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Summary

Adapting certain features of Empedoclean daimonology, Plato formulated a more rigorous theory of daimonification through virtue. He daimonified the soldiers of his ideal republic for their courage, and daimonified rulers (“guardians”) for their wisdom. In his Cratylus, Plato vouched for the daimonification of all people who were noble and wise. Plato’s Timaeus introduced the ultimate democratic principle of daimonification by identifying one’s guardian daimon with humanity’s higher consciousness (or nous).

Keywords

PlatoRepublicCratylusTimaeusSocratesdaimonionSymposiumPhaedrusguardianStatesman
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Chapter
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Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought
Becoming Angels and Demons
 , pp. 45 - 56
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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