I've done some searching and have found that he (it?) is the anthropomorphization of the deliberate Intellect's intent (SEP: Plato's Timaeus). I understand that he is neither an idea nor an idea's reflection in any worldly object, since he fashions the world. The point is: what kind of stuff is he in Plato's ontology?
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There appears to be an answer to that question, in the same SEP article: While the figure of the Craftsman seems to be an anthropomorphic representation of Intellect, it remains to ask what the ontological status of Intellect is, in relation to the division between being and becoming—a distinction that appears to be exhaustive. [...] It is reasonable to conclude that Intellect is a sui generis substance that transcends the metaphysical dichotomy of being and becoming—possibly not unlike the Judaeo-Christian conception of God.– Mariusz PopieluchCommented Mar 16, 2021 at 19:20
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1There isn't a consensus among readers of Plato on the relation between intellect, demiurge, and world-soul, but here is a thesis which argues for an interpretation where the demiurge is identified with the form of the good, and the author also discusses alternate interpretations (for example, see the discussion starting on p. 162 and the later discussion starting on p. 178)– HypnosiflCommented Mar 16, 2021 at 22:10
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1While I was working on a toy axiomatization of the Forms and came to the demiurge issue, I couldn't figure out how to deduce the demiurge from the other axioms and had to introduce it as a constant d with its own principle. This didn't really resolve the issue, though, as whether d was a Form or ur-exemplar was still undecidable...– Kristian BerryCommented Mar 17, 2021 at 12:54
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@KristianBerry Ah, nice --- axiomatic Platonism. I suppose you're familiar with Zalta's work on axiomatic metaphysics?– Mariusz PopieluchCommented Mar 17, 2021 at 16:38
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Not as familiar as I would like to be!– Kristian BerryCommented Mar 17, 2021 at 16:44
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