Plato always thought that true science can only target the world of ideas. In the cosmogony developed in the Timeo, there are numerous elements taken from the Pythagorists, Empedocles and other authors of the time, so the work constitutes a remarkable compendium of the knowledge of his time.
1. Teleological conception: For the first time in the history of philosophy, the end in the sense of purpose appears as a cause to explain everything. The presocratics had used material causes and movement as a principle.
2. Optimism: According to the Platonic cosmogony this is the most beautiful world among all possible.
3. Mathematization: According to some interpreters, the pre-existing material mass with which Demiurge formed the world would coincide with space. Following this line, things would consist only of mathematical structures equating the physical body to the geometric body. There are those who interpret that polyhedra does not correspond to bodies but to states of matter (igneous, gaseous, solid and liquid) and it is the mathematical structure that explains the qualities and possible transformations of matter.
4. Divinity of the Cosmos: The Olympic gods are replaced by astros-gods. Both in Plato and in presocratics the terms “teso” and “theios” (god and divine) refer only to realities of higher order and/or endowed with life and do not have the meaning they acquire later in Christian philosophy. In this sense it is unfounded to argue that Plato defended monotheism by associating with God the idea of Good.