Plato onSunaitia

Abstract

AbstractI argue that Plato thinks that asunaitionis a mere tool used by a soul (or by the cosmicnous) to promote an intended outcome. In the first section, I develop the connection betweensunaitiaand Plato’s teleology. In the second section, I argue thatsunaitiabelong to Plato’s theory of the soul as a self-mover: specifically, they are those things that are set in motion by the soul in the service of some goal. I also argue against several popular and long-standing interpretations, namely, thatsunaitiacorrespond to Aristotle’s idea of hypothetical necessity, thatsunaitiaare the ‘how’ in an explanation (whereas the true cause is the ‘why’), and that Plato’s causal views should be read through Aristotle’s fourfold schema. I conclude the article by surveying the history ofsunaitiaafter Plato’s usage.