An Overview of Pythagoras and Mathematics

By Pierce K. Kozlowski

Revered and Admired

Pythagoras (570-479 BCE), a “famed mathematician and philosopher,” was born in the Island of Samos, and posited that mathematics underpinned certain realities about nature. Students of Pythagoras recorded most of his major teachings, and oddly enough, it is revealed in Diogenes’ Lives that he accumulated a cult-like following. Students of Pythagoras believed that his teachings were divine prophecy, and the students of Pythagoras were segregated into “Listeners” and “Mathematicians.” Listeners listened to Pythagoras from behind a curtain, and mathematicians would study right next to him in person.

In 490 BCE, Pythagoras died while visiting a friend after someone ignited the house they were in out of the fear that Pythagoras would come to power and enforce tyranny.

The Philosophy of Sacred Numbers

Pythagoras’ philosophy revolved around mathematics, and he postulated that all things in the natural world could be “predicted and measured” through mathematical principles and rhythmic measurements. Therefore, because mathematics explained the behavior of the natural world, it was inherently intertwined with life and nature itself. Consequently, Pythagoras then concluded that numbers were sacred. Pythagoras also held a cyclical view of the cosmos, arguing that certain events repeat themselves on a set time, and that the soul was immortal through modern, Buddhists notions of reincarnation.

References

1. Fieser, J. "1: Presocratic Philosophy." 1: Presocratic Philosophy. University of Tennesse Martin, 19 Mar. 2013. Fri. 12 Nov. 2021.