PYTHAGORAS

Pythagoras was an Ionian philosopher and mathematician, born on the island of Samos, off
Greece, in the Mediterranean Sea, Pythagoras was the son of Mnesarchus. Little is known
about his early life. After studying in Greece, he fled to southern Italy to escape the harsh
rule of Polycrates (died c. 522 B.C.E.), who came to power about 538 B.C.E. Pythagoras is
said to have traveled to Egypt and Babylon during this time.
Pythagoras and his followers became politically powerful in Croton in southern Italy, where
Pythagoras had established a school for his newly formed sect, or group of followers. It is
probable that the Pythagoreans took positions in the local government in order to lead men
to the pure life that was directed by their teachings. Eventually, however, a rival group
launched an attack on the Pythagoreans at a gathering of the sect, and the group was almost
completely destroyed. Pythagoras either had been forced to leave Croton or had left
voluntarily shortly before this attack. He died in Metapontum early in the fifth century B.C.E.
Religious teachings
Pythagoras and his followers were important for their contributions to both religion and
science. His religious teachings were based on the doctrine (teaching) of metempsychosis,
which teaches that the soul never dies and is destined to a cycle of rebirths until it is able to
free itself from the cycle through the purity of its life.
Pythagoreanism differed from the other philosophical systems of its time in being not merely
an intellectual search for truth but a whole way of life which would lead to salvation, or to be
delivered from sin. An important part of Pythagoreanism was the relationship of all life. A
universal life spirit was thought to be present in animal and vegetable life, altho ugh there is
no evidence to show that Pythagoras believed that the soul could be born in the form of a
plant. It could be born, however, in the body of an animal, and Pythagoras claimed to have
heard the voice of a dead friend in the howl of a dog being beaten.
Mathematical teachings
The Pythagoreans presented as fact the dualism (that life is controlled by opposite forces)
between Limited and Unlimited. It was probably Pythagoras who declared that numbers could
uncover the secrets of the universe, limiting and giving shape to matter (anything that takes
up space). His study of musical intervals, leading to the discovery that the chief intervals can
be expressed in numerical ratios (relationships between numbers) between the first four
integers (positive whole numbers), also led to the theory that the number ten, the sum of the
first four integers, embraced the whole nature of number.
So great was the Pythagoreans' respect for the "Tetractys of the Decad" (the sum of 1 + 2 +
3 + 4) that they swore their oaths (promises) by it rather than by the gods, as was normal
during his day. Pythagoras may have discovered the theorem which still bears his name (in
right triangles [triangle with one angle equal to 90 degrees], the square on the hypotenuse
equals the sum of the squares on the other sides), although this proposal has been
discovered on a writing stone dating from the time of the Babylonian king Hammurabi (died
c. 1750 B.C.E.). Regardless of their sources, the Pythagoreans did important work in
extending the body of mathematical knowledge.
As a more general outline, the Pythagoreans presented the two contraries (opposites),
Limited and Unlimited, as ultimate principles, or truths. Numerical oddness and evenness are
equated with Limited and Unlimited, as are one and plurality (many), right and left, male and
female, motionlessness and movement, straight and crooked, light and darkness, and good
and bad. It is not clear whether an ultimate One, or Monad, was presented as the cause of
the two categories.
Cosmological views
The Pythagoreans, as a result of their religious beliefs and careful study of mathematics,
developed a cosmology (dealing with the structures of the universe) which differed in some
important respects from the world views at the time, the most important of which was their
view of the Earth as a sphere which circled the center of the universe. It is not known how
much of this theory was credited to Pythagoras himself.
The mathematical knowledge carried out by Pythagoras and his followers would have been
enough to make him an important figure in the history of Western thought. However, his
religious sect and the self-discipline and dedication which he taught, embracing as it did a
vast number of ancient beliefs, make him one of the great teachers of religion in the ancient
Greek world.
SOCRATES
The Greek philosopher and logician (one who studies logic or reason) Socrates was an
important influence on Plato (427–347 B.C.E.) and had a major effect on ancient philosophy.
Socrates was the son of Sophroniscus, an Athenian stone mason and sculptor. He learned
his father's craft and apparently practiced it for many years. He participated in the
Peloponnesian War (431–04 B.C.E.) when Athens was crushed by the Spartans, and he
distinguished himself for his courage. Details of his early life are scarce, although he appears
to have had no more than an ordinary Greek education before devoting his time almost
completely to intellectual interests. He did, however, take a keen interest in the works of the
natural philosophers, and Plato records the fact that Socrates met Zeno of Elea (c. 495–430
B.C.E.) and Parmenides (born c. 515 B.C.E.) on their trip to Athens, which probably took
place about 450 B.C.E.
Socrates himself wrote nothing, therefore evidence of his life and activities must come from
the writings of Plato and Xenophon (c. 431–352 B.C.E.). It is likely that neither of these
presents a completely accurate picture of him, but Plato's Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and
Symposium contain details which must be close to fact.
From the Apology we learn that Socrates was well known around Athens; uncritical thinkers
linked him with the rest of the Sophists (a philosophical school); he fought in at least three
military campaigns for the city; and he attracted to his circle large numbers of young men
who delighted in seeing their elders proved false by Socrates. His courage in military
campaigns is described by Alcibiades (c. 450–404 B.C.E.) in the Symposium.
In addition to stories about Socrates's strange character, the Symposium provides details
regarding his physical appearance. He was short, quite the opposite of what was considered
graceful and beautiful in the Athens of his time. He was also poor and had only the barest
necessities of life. Socrates's physical ugliness did not stop his appeal.
His thought
There was a strong religious side to Socrates's character and thought which constantly
revealed itself in spite of his criticism of Greek myths. His words and actions in the Apology,
Crito, Phaedo, and Symposium reveal a deep respect for Athenian religious customs and a
sincere regard for divinity (gods). Indeed, it was a divine voice which Socrates claimed to
hear within himself on important occasions in his life. It was not a voice which gave him
positive instructions, but instead warned him when he was about to go off course. He
recounts, in his defense before the Athenian court, the story of his friend Chaerephon, who
was told by the Delphic Oracle (a person regarded as wise counsel) that Socrat es was the
wisest of men. That statement puzzled Socrates, he says, for no one was more aware of the
extent of his own ignorance than he himself, but he determined to see the truth of the god's
words. After questioning those who had a reputation for wisdom and who considered
themselves, wise, he concluded that he was wiser than they because he could recognize his
ignorance while they, who were equally ignorant, thought themselves wise.
Socrates was famous for his method of argumentation (a system or process used for arguing
or debate) and his works often made as many enemies as admirers within Athens. An
example comes from the Apology. Meletus had accused Socrates of corrupting the youth, or
ruining the youth's morality. Socrates begins by asking if Meletus considers the improvement
of youth important. He replies that he does, whereupon Socrates asks who is capable of
improving the young. The laws, says Meletus, and Socrates asks him to name a person who
knows the laws. Meletus responds that the judges there present know the laws, whereupon
Socrates asks if all who are present are able to instruct and improve youth or whether only
a few can. Meletus replies that all of them are capable of such a task, which forces Meletus
to confess that other groups of Athenians, such as the Senate and the Assembly, and indeed
all Athenians are capable of instructing and improving the youth. All except Socrates, that is.
Socrates then starts a similar set of questions regarding the instruction and improvement of
horses and other animals. Is it true that all men are capable of training horses, or only those
men with special qualifications and experience? Meletus, realizing the absurdity of his
position, does not answer, but Socrates answers for him and says that if he does not c are
enough about the youth of Athens to have given adequate thought to who might instruct and
improve them, he has no right to accuse Socrates of corrupting them.
Thus the Socratic method of argumentation begins with commonplace questions which lead
the opponent to believe that the questioner is simple, but ends in a complete reversal. Thus
his chief contributions lie not in the construction of an elaborate system but in clearing away
the false common beliefs and in leading men to an awareness of their own ignorance, from
which position they may begin to discover the truth. It was his unique combination of
dialectical (having to do with using logic and reasoning in an argument or discussion) skill
and magnetic attractiveness to the youth of Athens which gave his opponents their
opportunity to bring him to trial in 399 B.C.E.
His death
Meletus, Lycon, and Anytus charged Socrates with impiety (being unreligious) and with
corrupting the youth of the city. Since defense speeches were made by the principals in
Athenian legal practice, Socrates spoke in his own behalf and his defense speech was a sure
sign that he was not going to give in. After taking up the charges and showing how they were
false, he proposed that the city should honor him as it did Olympic victor s. He was convicted
and sentenced to death. Plato's Crito tells of Crito's attempts to persuade Socrates to flee
the prison (Crito had bribed [exchanged money for favors] the jailer, as was customary), but
Socrates, in a dialogue between himself and the Laws of Athens, reveals his devotion to the
city and his obligation to obey its laws even if they lead to his death. In the Phaedo, Plato
recounts Socrates's discussion of the immortality of the soul; and at the end of that dialogue,
one of the most moving and dramatic scenes in ancient literature, Socrates takes the hemlock
(poison) prepared for him while his friends sit helplessly by. He died reminding Crito that he
owes a rooster to Aesculapius.
Socrates was the most colorful figure in the history of ancient philosophy. His fame was
widespread in his own time, and his name soon became a household word although he
professed no extraordinary wisdom, constructed no philosophical system, established no
school, and founded no sect (following). His influence on the course of ancient philosophy,
through Plato, the Cynics, and less directly, Aristotle, is immeasurable.
PLATO
The Greek philosopher Plato founded the Academy in Athens, one of the great philosophical
schools of antiquity (ancient times). His thought had enormous impact on the development
of Western (having to do with American and European thought) philosophy.
Plato was born in Athens, Greece, the son of Ariston and Perictione, both of Athenian noble
backgrounds. He lived his whole life in Athens, although he traveled to Sicily and southern
Italy on several occasions. One story says he traveled to Egypt. Little is known of his early
years, but he was given the finest education Athens had to offer noble families, and he
devoted his considerable talents to politics and the writing of tragedy (works that end with
death and sadness) and other forms of poetry. His acquaintance with Socrates (c. 469–c.
399 B.C.E.) altered the course of his life. The power that Socrates's methods and arguments
had over the minds of the youth of Athens gripped Plato as firmly as it did many others, and
he became a close associate of Socrates.
The end of the Peloponnesian War (431–04 B.C.E.), which caused the destruction of Athens
by the Spartans, left Plato in a terrible position. His uncle, Critias (c. 480–403 B.C.E.), was
the leader of the Thirty Tyrants (a group of ruthless Athenian rulers) who were installed in
power by the victorious Spartans. One means of holding onto power was to connect as many
Athenians as possible with terrible acts committed during the war. Thus Socrates, as we
learn in Plato's Apology, was ordered to arrest a man and bring him to Athens from Salamis
for execution (to be put to death). When the great teacher refused, his life was threatened,
and he was probably saved only by the overthrow of the Thirty Tyrants and the
reestablishment of the democracy (a system of government in which government officials are
elected by the people).
Death of Socrates
Plato welcomed the restoration of the democracy, but his mistrust was deepened some four
years later when Socrates was tried on false charges and sentenced to death. Plato was
present at the trial, as we learn in the Apology, but was not present when the h emlock
(poison) was given to his master, although he describes the scene in clear and touching
detail in the Phaedo. He then turned in disgust from Athenian politics and never took an
active part in government, although through friends he did try to influence the course of
political life in the Sicilian city of Syracuse.
Plato and several of his friends withdrew from Athens for a short time after Socrates's death
and remained with Euclides (c. 450–373 B.C.E.) in Megara. His productive years were
highlighted by three voyages to Sicily, and his writings, all of which have survived.
The first trip, to southern Italy and Syracuse, took place in 388 and 387 B.C.E.), when Plato
met Dionysius I (c. 430–367 B.C.E.). Dionysius was then at the height of his power in Sicily
for having freed the Greeks there from the threat of Carthaginian rule. Plato became better
friends with the philosopher Dion (c. 408–353 B.C.E.), however, and Dionysius grew jealous
and began to treat Plato harshly.
His dialogues
When Plato returned to Athens, he began to teach in the Gymnasium Academe and soon
afterward acquired property nearby and founded his famous Academy, which survived until
the early sixth century C.E. At the center of the Academy stood a shrine to the Muses (gods
of the arts), and at least one modern scholar suggests that the Academy may have been a
type of religious brotherhood.
Plato had begun to write the dialogues (writings in the form of conversation), which came to
be the basis of his philosophical (having to do with the search for knowledge and truth)
teachings, some years before the founding of the Academy. To this early period Plato wrote
the Laches which deals with courage, Charmides with common sense, Euthyphro with piety
(religious dedication), Lysis with friendship, Protagoras with the teaching of virtues, or
goodness, and many others. The Apology and Crito stand somewhat apart from the other
works of this group in that they deal with historical events, Socrates's trial and the period
between his conviction and execution.
Plato's own great contributions begin to appear in the second group of writings, which date
from the period between his first and second voyages to Sicily. The Meno carries on the
question of the teachability of virtue first dealt with in Protagoras and introduces the teaching
of anamnesis (recollection), which plays an important role in Plato's view of the human's
ability to learn the truth.
The Republic
Socrates is again the main character in the Republic, although this work is less a dialogue
than a long discussion by Socrates of justice and what it means to the individual and the city-
state (independent states). Just as there are three elements to the soul, the rational, the less
rational, and the impulsive irrational, so there are three classes in the state, the rulers, the
guardians, and the workers. The rulers are not a family of rulers but are made up of those
who have emerged from the population as a whole as the most gifted intellectually. The
guardians serve society by keeping order and by handling the practical matters of
government, including fighting wars, while the workers perform the labor necessary to keep
the whole running smoothly. Thus the most rational elements of the city-state guide it and
see that all in it are given an education equal to their abilities.
Only when the three work in harmony, with intelligence clearly in control, does the individual
or state achieve the happiness and fulfillment of which it is capable. The Republic ends with
the great myth of Er, in which the wanderings of the soul through births and rebirths are
retold. One may be freed from the cycle after a time through lives of greater and greater
spiritual and intellectual purity.
Last years
Plato's third and final voyage to Syracuse was made some time before 357 B.C.E. , and he
tried for the second time to influence the young Dionysius II. Plato was unsuccessful and
was held in semicaptivity before being released. Plato's Seventh Letter, the only one in the
collection of thirteen considered accurate, perhaps even from the hand of Plato himself,
recounts his role in the events surrounding the death of Dion, who in 357 B.C.E. entered
Syracuse and overthrew Dionysius. It is of more interest, however, for Plato's statement that
the deepest truths may not be communicated. Plato died in 347 B.C.E. the founder of an
important philosophical school, which existed for almost one thousand years, and the most
brilliant of Socrates's many pupils and followers. His system attracted many followers in the
centuries after his death and resurfaced as Neoplatonism, the great rival of early Christianity.
ARISTOTLE
The Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle created the scientific method, the process used
for scientific investigation. His influence served as the basis for much of the science and
philosophy of Hellenistic (Ancient Greek) and Roman times, and even affected science and
philosophy thousands of years later.
Aristotle was born in the small Greek town of Stagiros (later Stagira) in the northern Greek
district of Chalcidice. His father, Nicomachus, was a physician who had important social
connections. Aristotle's interest in science was surely inspired by his father's work, although
Aristotle did not display a particularly keen interest in medicine. The events of his early life
are not clear. It is possible that his father served at the Macedonian court (the political leaders
of Macedonia, an ancient empire) as physician to Amyntas II (died c. 370 B.C.E.) and that
Aristotle spent part of his youth there.
At the age of seventeen Aristotle went to Athens, Greece, and joined Plato's (c. 428–c. 348
B.C.E.) circle at the Academy, a school for philosophers. There he remained for twenty years.
Although his respect and admiration for Plato was always great, differences developed whic h
ultimately caused a break in their relationship. Upon Plato's death Aristotle left for Assos in
Mysia (in Asia Minor, today known as Turkey), where he and Xenocrates (c. 396–c. 314
B.C.E.) joined a small circle of Platonists (followers of Plato) who had already settled there
under Hermias, the ruler of Atarneus. Aristotle married the niece of Hermias, a woman named
Pythias, who was killed by the Persians some time thereafter.
In 342 B.C.E. Aristotle made his way to the court of Philip of Macedon (c. 382–c. 336 B.C.E).
There Aristotle became tutor to Alexander (c. 356–c. 323 B.C.E.), who would become master
of the whole Persian Empire as Alexander the Great. Little information remains regarding the
specific contents of Alexander's education at the hands of Aristotle, but it would be interesting
to know what political advice Aristotle gave to the young Alexander. The only indication of
such advice is found in the fragment of a letter in which the philosopher tells Alexander that
he ought to be the leader of the Greeks but the master of the barbarians (foreigners).
Peripatetic School
Aristotle returned to Athens around 335 B.C.E. Under the protection of Antipater (c. 397–c.
319 B.C.E.), Alexander's representative in Athens, Aristotle established a philosophical
school of his own, the Lyceum, located near a shrine of Apollo Lyceus. Also known as the
Peripatetic School, the school took its name from its colonnaded walk (a walk with a ser ies
of columns on either side). The lectures were divided into morning and afternoon sessions.
The more difficult ones were given in the morning, and the easier and more popular ones
were given in the afternoon. Aristotle himself led the school until the death of Alexander in
323 B.C.E , when he left Athens, fearing for his safety because of his close association with
the Macedonians. He went to Chalcis, Greece, where he died the following year of intestinal
problems. His will, preserved in the writings of Diogenes Laertius (third century C.E.),
provided for his daughter, Pythias, and his son, Nicomachus, as well as for his slaves.
His writings
Aristotle produced a large number of writings, but few have survived. His earliest writings,
consisting for the most part of dialogues (writings in the form of conversation), were produced
under the influence of Plato and the Academy. Most of these are lost, although the titles are
known from the writings of Diogenes Laertius and from others. Among these important works
are Rhetoric, Eudemus (On the Soul), On Philosophy, Alexander, Sophistes, On Justice,
Wealth, On Prayer, and On Education. They were a wide variety of works written for the
public, and they dealt with popular philosophical themes. The dialogues of Plato were
undoubtedly the inspiration for some of them, although the fall out between Plato and
Aristotle reveals itself to a certain extent in these works, too.
A second group of writings is made up of collections of scientific and historical material,
among the most important of which is the surviving fragment of the Constitution of the
Athenians. This formed part of the large collection of Constitutions, which Aristotle and his
students collected and studied for the purpose of analyzing various political theo ries. The
discovery of the Constitution of the Athenians in Egypt in 1890 shed new light on the nature
of the Athenian democracy (a government of elected officials) of Aristotle's time. It also
revealed the difference in quality between the historical and scientific works of Aristotle and
those that followed.
Theophrastus (c. 372–c. 287 B.C.E.) had kept Aristotle's manuscripts after the master's
death in 322 B.C.E. When Theophrastus died Aristotle's works were hidden away and not
brought to light again until the beginning of the first century B.C.E. They were then taken to
Rome and edited by Andronicus (first century B.C.E.). The texts that survive today come
from Andronicus's revisions and probably do not represent works that Aristotle himself
prepared for publication. From the time of his death until the rediscovery of these writings,
Aristotle was best known for the works that today are known as the lost writings.
Philosophical and scientific systems
The writings that did survive, however, are sufficient to show the quality of Aristotle's
achievement. The Topics and the Analytics deal with logic (the study of reasoning) and
dialectic (a method of argument) and reveal Aristotle's contributions to the development of
debate. His view of nature is set forth in the Physics and the Metaphysics, which mark the
most serious difference between Aristotelianism and Platonism: that all investigation must
begin with what the senses record and must move only from that point to thought. As a result
of this process of intellectualizing, God, who for Plato represents beauty and goodness, is
for Aristotle the highest form of being and is completely lacking in materiality. Aristotle's God
neither created nor controls the universe, although the universe is affected by this God. Man
is the only creature capable of thought even remotely resembling that of God, so man's
highest goal is to reason abstractly, like God, and he is more truly human to the extent that
he achieves that goal.
Aristotle's work was often misunderstood in later times. The scientific and philosophical
systems set forth in his writings are not conclusions that must be taken as the final answer,
but rather experimental positions arrived at through careful observation and analysis. During
the slow intellectual climate of the Roman Empire, which ruled over much of Europe for
hundreds of years after Aristotle died, and the totally unscientific Christian Middle Ages (476 –
1453), Aristotle's views on nature and science were taken as a complete system. As a result,
his influence was enormous but not for any reason that would have pleased him.
Aristotle shares with his master, Plato, the role of stimulating human thought. Plato had a
more direct influence on the development of that great spiritual movement in late antiquity
(years before the Middle Ages), and Aristotle had a greater effect on science. Antiquity
produced no greater minds than those of Plato and Aristotle. The intellectual history of the
West would be extremely different without them