The Demiurge is a concept that talks about the creation of the universe. It was discussed in the platonic, Mid-platonic and neoplatonic schools of philosophy. It speaks of the existence of a deity like figure who was responsible for crafting and fashioning the creation and maintenance of the entire universe. Although a craftsman, the demiurge is not discussed as the creator in the context of monotheism. The demiurge and the material that he used to create the universe are both considered to be eternal and uncreated or the byproduct of some other entity.

The word demiurge has a Latin origin and literally translated to “public worker”. It was a term that was generally used to denote a craftsman or an artisan. The philosophical utilization of this word was first seen in the Platonic work, Timaeus in which Plato mentions demiurge to be the organizer of the entire physical universe. This statement stuck on to be the definition of the same word in the platonic and mid-platonic schools of philosophy. In the neoplatonic schools, however, the word demiurge meant, “the fashioner of anything real”, including all the materialistic things as well as abstract things like thoughts and ideas. According to the Gnostic ideologies, the material universe is very evil while the non-material universe, comprising of abstract things, was very good. If we put the term demiurge into the Gnostic concepts, we can immediately see that the craftsman of the material universe is, in fact, malicious.

In his Socratic dialogue, Timaeus, Plato refers to the term demiurge, very frequently. The dialogue is basically an understanding of Hesiod’s concept of cosmology. The character Timaeus, who is the narrator for this dialogue, is portrayed as the demiurge, who is the creator and craftsman for the material world. Timaeus speaks of the demiurge in a good manner, calling him unbiased and very benevolent. This compliments the other Platonic idea which says that the desire of the materialistic world to be good is very much possible. To answer the query about the chaos in the material world, Timaeus says that the demiurge created the material universe out of chaotic non-being.

Description: The concept of demiurge speaks about a single craftsman who created the material universe. It says that the material universe was created in a very chaotic manner but still has an overall sense of order and justice.