Passing Souls with Pythagoras

In the previous article we have appreciated the importance of numbers to the Pythagoreans. Not only these ancient thinkers viewed them in a mathematical way, but also in a cosmological way. There was indeed another 'M' for these rationalist philosophers – the exploration of the nature of soul and the practical implications that resulted from these understandings. Besides mathematics, there is metempsychosis. 

Metempsychosis, also known as the transmigration of souls, is an ancient doctrine that sounds like a plot twist from a ghost story. First proposed by Pherecydes, and possibly some other civilizations outside Greece, this weird idea was important for the foundation of ancient philosophy. We can go further to state that the doctrine of metempsychosis is the central theme of Pythagorean philosophy, as that impacts the school's general outlook and ethical attitude. 

Metempsychosis is a reincarnation theory that asserts the immortality of the soul. The soul is a metaphysical substance that is eternal and cannot be destructed. As the soul has to combine with a corporal body to form a living whole; once the body has perished, the soul will leave the body and attach to another body. That can be another human body or an animal body (!!). The process will continue due to the eternality of the soul. 

While I have mentioned before that the conception of the bodily and corporeality was rather vague and inconsistent for many Presocratic philosophers, it was reasonable to assume that soul was an immaterial substance – a point much stressed by Plato in later times. It was also evident that, while the philosophers from the Presocratic era did not deny the importance of a soul-body unity, they seemed to have elevated the status of the soul and have undermined the corporal aspects of humanity, a preference also carried to the extreme by Plato. 

There were practical and ethical implications of metempsychosis for Pythagoras and his followers. The Pythagoreans were committed to a vegetarian diet in the fear that they might 'eat up' their human companions from a previous life. Of course, the idea sounds rather ludicrous for modern readers. The thinkers were also oblivious to the fact that plants also had lives – so they could not rule out the possibility of metempsychosis to a plant. Nevertheless, we could not ask too much from these ancient thinkers, after all. Another implication was ethical in nature. As it was possible to have a transmigration of one's soul to a lower form of animal life, the Pythagoreans behaved in a moral and rational way, to avoid such a punishment from happening for their next lives. The most long-term consequence was their emphasis on the care for their souls. While the corporeal body could be destroyed, it was the immortal soul that should be maintained in a positive way, for the sake of one's well-being. 

Pythagoras and Plato 

While the Presocratic philosophers endorsed the idea of soul transmigration and were committed to lead a lifestyle that addressed their beliefs, they might not have foreseen the fact that the idea would be instrumental for the construction of a complete philosophical system that influenced much of Western thought. It was up to the intelligent Plato of the Classical Greece to see all the connections, and synthesized the ideas of Pythagoras and Parmenides to build his school of philosophical thoughts. 

In general, Plato agreed to the idea of metempsychosis, because the doctrine fitted very well with his own idea of recollection. Though he did not totally agree to all the viewpoints from the Pythagoreans, as expressed through his work, 'Phaedo', one could be assured that Plato endorsed the conclusions of the doctrine and saw the instrumental value of metempsychosis to his own work. 

Plato agreed to the notion that soul was eternal and indestructible, and he also stressed the immaterial nature of soul. Being immaterial was important for Plato's dualistic system because that suggested its abstract nature and its inaccessibility from the senses. For Plato, the most perfect things were the Forms, the perfect ideas which were eternal and 'out-of-this-world'. Plato rigorously distinguished between appearance and reality, much like what Parmenides did – the 'appearance' was the imperfect, sensible world we existed in; and the 'reality' was the perfect, ideal, and transcendent world where all the eternal Forms were situated in. The transcendent world was a metaphysical world where we were inaccessible to through our senses – a Holy Grail one could never achieve. 

While the soul-body interaction of the Presocratic thinkers were vague, Plato took a more decisive step, by designating the soul to the transcendent world of the Forms, and detached it conceptually from the corporeal aspect of humanity. This notion was best illustrated by the famous myth in 'Phaedrus', where a charioteer controlled a pair of horses (the trio served as an analogy of the soul) towards the realm of enlightenment, a metaphor for the transcendent world of the Forms. 

So, next time when you are finding out the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle, do not forget the awe inspired by this ancient lover of wisdom! 

by Ed Law 

Conatus Classics

Nailing Maths with Pythagoras

Most of us have long heard of the name of Pythagoras even before any concepts of Presocratic philosophy or ancient Greek history are being brought up. We probably first met Pythagoras in the maths lesson rather than the history lesson though – remember the famous theorem about right-angled triangles and how that led to all the crazy trigonometric implications (with an extra sprinkling of vectors in some cases) and another mathematical challenge that took the big brains centuries to solve? From the following two articles, you will find that Pythagoras and his followers, collectively known as the Pythagoreans, were more than a bunch of maths geeks!

Pythagoras was one of the most important philosophers of the Presocratic era. Not only having a lot of contributions to mathematics, the philosopher has also contributed a lot of original ideas to Western intellectual history. It is curious to note that no writings have been attributed to Pythagoras – all of his teachings were compiled by his school of followers and subsequent thinkers who were influenced by him. Pythagoras has led a number of followers and formed a community which were very committed to their shared philosophical outlook – simple living to nurture one's mind, tolerance and a reasonably egalitarian attitude to all the members. Since the Pythagoreans have unfortunately rubbed up the wrong way with political figures of their era for a couple of times, they were forced into seclusion and hence led an increasingly ascetic lifestyle. The legacy of Pythagoras sustained long after his death, for the next few centuries the Pythagorean school was further developed and their ideas spread throughout Greece. Pythagoras had a strong influence on philosophers like Parmenides, Plato and the so-called neo-Pythagoreans of the later centuries.

While a lot of mathematical achievements have been attributed to the Pythagorean school, it is important to appreciate that their ultimate motivation was a philosophical one rather than a mathematical one – like examples Euclid or Archimedes. Like the other Presocratic thinkers, the Pythagoreans wished to discover the physis of things – the nature and origin of the universe. The reason why mathematics, specifically numbers, were so important for the Pythagoreans was because they saw perfection in the numbers. To the Pythagoreans, perfection meant something rational and harmonious. The rationalist outlook was the most important perspective for this school of Presocratic thinkers, and to them, numbers (like the Pythagorean triples), musical chords, and a rational soul were examples of something in harmony.

Numbers as universals

The modern readers are likely to be puzzled by such a speculative and abstract worldview, yet it is the imaginative side typical of these ancient thinkers. It was widely believed that Pythagoras was the first thinker to coin the term ‘kosmos’. To the Pythagoreans, the origin of the universe was known as 'Monad'. It was a kind of 'number generator' that worked in a rational way to generate everything in existence in the universe. The Pythagoreans believed that everything in the universe was related in a rational way. The whole universe was originated from numbers and everything in it was modelled on numbers. The cosmo was operated through mathematical relations and these were manifested in the resulting harmony from the universe.

Such a theory bore some resemblance to the deism proposed by the scientists and natural philosophers of Europe from the Enlightenment. Scientists like Isaac Newton asserted that God created the world and let the world operate by reason, through mechanical laws of causes and effects.

As the Pythagoreans was enthusiastic about the discussion of the cosmos, they have also engaged in the discussion of physis. Philolaus, a famous Pythagorean philosopher, suggested the whole world-order was comprised of two contrasting attributes – the unlimited and the limiters. Along with other things that came into existence, these aspects constructed the cosmos as a harmonious order.

by Ed Law 

Conatus Classics

2 or 3 Things I Know About Thales

Thales correctly predicted a solar eclipse that took place on 28th May, 585 BC.

The dawn of knowledge and truth originated in the ancient Greek city-state of Miletus. The tiny city overlooking the Mediterranean Sea was packed with a number of intellectual minds, who would prove to shape the development of subsequent Western thought. One of the city's most honorable citizen was certainly Thales – widely known as the founder of Western Philosophy.

Thales of Miletus

While Thales was considered intelligent by his contemporaries, I suspect he has ever intended to be a strict philosopher in the first place. Thales was in no way an armchair philosopher, because he was famed for many of the practical achievements he has made in Miletus. With a concentration in astronomy and mathematics, our founder of philosophy used his observations and rational understanding to solve problems of engineering and logistics in ancient Greece. Given the prosperity and efficient communication in Miletus and the other city-states around the 6^th century BC, Thales soon became well-known and he was acclaimed as one of the 'Seven Wise Men of Ancient Greece', presumably a significant recognition in his era.

If you want to place blame on the one who discovered this geometric theorem, go after Thales!

Thales and the Eclipse

The legacy of Thales is forever entangled with a famous eclipse that has likely taken place on 28^th May, 585 BC. While there exists a number of alternative theories regarding the authenticity of the account, many historical documents have stated that Thales has predicted correctly that a solar eclipse would take place on that fateful day in 585 BC. The eclipse also led to a side-effect : it interrupted a long battle between the Medes and Lydians, and eventually they made peace with each other. While the ingenious speculations by Thales raised a lot of awe, presumably the peace-making effort by the Milesian thinker was unintentional.

While meteorological phenomena are certainly viewed under science's lens, how did people from the 'mythos'-oriented Greece make sense of these natural phenomena? Archilochus, a renowned poet in ancient Greece, made the comment that Zeus has darkened the sun at noon after witnessing an eclipse himself. While the poet's statement sounds corny by today's standard, we cannot blame him. The supernatural and Homeric outlook governed the thinking framework of ancient Greece, and it was up to someone likes Thales to demystify the universe for everyone.

Thales' prediction of the eclipse not only sounded cool to the fellow citizens in Miletus , that feat also represented a turning point for one to understand his world. Thales's achievement likely arose from the fact that he attempted to look for the regular patterns in these observable phenomena that was taking place around him. By discovering the uniformity of nature, Thales tried to understand the events in terms of natural cycles. No, Zeus did not tell Thales beforehand that he planned to darken the sun again to prevent a big brawl on Earth, it was that Thales tried hard to make sense of his world in a naturalistic manner. Therefore Thales was some sort of proto-scientist : his work could be seen as the precursor to empirical science, and the dawn of natural philosophy in the West.

Thales and Water

Thales has also speculated a possible first cause for the universe. He asserted that water was the origin for all things on Earth. This proposal is really primitive and sounds rather outrageous for the standard of today. It was likely that Thales has observed the preponderance of water around Miletus and possibly drew up this conclusion. No matter how ridiculous that might sound, his idea was actually significant in a philosophical point-of-view. Thales’ standpoint represented an example of material monism, meaning that the ultimate reality of the universe consisted of one single material substance. His successors in the Milesian school, Anaximander and Anaximenes, proposed other type of matter instead, and the search for the metaphysical substance of the universe became the preoccupation of many later philosophers, when they developed the First Philosophy of their respective theories.

What did Thales see in these olives? Opportunity for business venture.

Thales and the Olive Press Venture

Some skeptics might say, 'Well, it sounds great to guess an eclipse correctly and have some great speculations, but there is one thing Thales is out of reach – money. How can one admire a wise man who cannot make a living?' Thales proved himself to be the Daniel 'I Drink Your Milkshake' Plainview of his age – and for him the 'milkshake' was olive oil. From his astronomical observation and understanding of the cosmological cycles, Thales hypothesized that there would soon be a great harvest of olives in the coming year. So in advance he rented all the olive presses – the machines required for making olives into olive oil – from the other merchants. In a sense he has got hold of some many of these tools that it could be considered an ancient version of monopoly. There came a beautiful year of olive production, and this precursor to venture capitalism succeeded. All the farmers with the olive harvest had to come to Thales for the olive press, and as a result he made a lot of money from renting out the olive press. To Thales, knowledge led to power indeed!

I should end with a funny anecdote about Thales. When observing the stars in the sky, Thales accidentally fell into a hole with a shallow depth. A girl helped him out and laughed at his folly, stating that he has seen things far away but not things in front of him. While the young lady has certainly provided a worldly advice, she was oblivious to the reason why certain people would eventually shape the history of humanity. Those chosen ones were not acting in command of Zeus – they were just the ones who were willing to look further.

by Ed Law

Conatus Classics

Getting Ionic at Miletus

Individuals and places perish throughout the long span of history. Yet if one has made significant contributions to the well-being of humanity, future generations will remember these passengers of time. There was once a city-state in ancient Greece worthy of such attention, as it is now widely acknowledged as the origin of Western thought – Miletus!

Miletus was an ancient Greek city of Ionia, which was the district at the central part of the western coast of Asia Minor. The city-state (polis in Greek) resided on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. The region of the long-gone Miletus of becomes part of present-day Turkey.

Taken from McKirahan – Philosophy before Socrates (2^nd Ed.).

Annotations in red by E. L.

Because of the location near the coastal area, Miletus was active in commercial activities and soon prospered to become a wealthy polis at the 6th century BC. Trading activities were as prominent as cultural activities, knowledge and ideas were exchanged both inside and outside of Miletus. Indeed, the intellectuals from the coastal city-state has learnt a lot from the other civilizations, like Babylonians, Egyptians and Mesopotamians, either through communication of trade or traveling.

If there was a key reason for Miletus to become the origin of Western thought, it was because of the intellectual atmosphere that encouraged discussion and expression of new ideas. The freedom of thought encouraged the thinkers to propose their own viewpoints about nature and practical issues, debated with each other and tolerated the diversity of perspectives.

Thus the philosophers from Miletus - Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes - were known as 'Milesian philosophers', and with the other thinkers in the Ionia area, they were collectively labeled as 'Ionian philosophers'. The trinity of Milesian philosophers were common in their doctrines of material monism – each of these thinkers proposed a material substance as the origin of all things. That reflected the first philosophers of ancient Greece have been influenced by each other due to location proximity.

The Fate of Miletus

Miletus was an important city-state for ancient Greece, not only due to its rich intellectual heritage, but also due to some political and military conflicts that led to events shaping the history of the Classical Greece era. At far as the 6^th century BC, the Persian Empire had a lot of control on a number of Greek city-states. While the Persians assigned a number of tyrants to rule the Greek city-states, the citizens from these polis soon felt a lot of discontent regarding the Persian rule. With the action of two defecting tyrants from Miletus, the people there joined forces with a number of other city-states at the Ionia area, leading to the Ionian Revolt. While the Ionian people met a few initial victories, soon the Persians gained the upper hand and captured Miletus as a result. The Greeks and the Persians would clash a few more times in the following 50 years, and the Ionian Revolt served as the prelude to the Greco-Persian Wars. Eventually the Greeks emerged as the victor after the half-century struggle, entering the golden age of Classical Greece.

Miletus proved to be an strategic city for diplomatic and commercial purposes for the next 1800 years or so. The Turks have taken the city twice, first in the 14^th century and second through the fall of Constantinople in 1453, signifying the end of the Byzantine Empire. The Turks and later, the Ottoman Empire, recognized the geographical advantage of Miletus and used that as a harbour to facilitate commercial trade with the nearby European countries. Miletus was abandoned in the 15^th century due to severe formation of silt and destruction through erosion. Though the ancient city of Miletus has long gone for 500 years, the fact that it has witnessed the dawn of ἀλήθεια (Aletheia, Greek for 'truth') will continue to leave a lasting impression on the lovers of wisdom. 

by Ed Law 

Conatus Classics

                                                                                                                              

Pherecydes : The Thinking Caveman

Before we start to investigate the key thinkers from the Presocratic era of Classical Greece, it is important to appreciate the precursor thinkers that took us from a world governed by 'mythos' to a world of'logos'. Pherecydes of Syros was one of the exemplary representatives of this group. While many people tended not to count him as a Presocratic philosopher, his ideas have certainly influenced a number of Presocratic philosophers and the generations beyond Classical Greece.

While the biographical details of Pherecydes were not well-documented, he was known to exist around the 6^th century BC and there were some writings attributed to his authorship. It was alleged that Pherecydes lived in a cave for most of his life, making him an ancient version of the thinking caveman. Pherecydes was more considered as a theologian than a strict philosopher, because while his ideas might have led to further development in Greek philosophy, his motivation was spiritual and religious. Pherecydes predominantly resorted to mythological explanations in his proposal of his worldview, yet his ideas were surprisingly forward-thinking and had some resonance to the 'logos'-oriented philosophy of the Presocratic era. That brings up a general point I have mentioned in my first article : that the whole of Greek culture, or indeed any culture, was shaped as much by rational inquiries of history and also imaginations provided by myths of the culture. One cannot undermine the contributions by artists, poets, and mythographers alike because what they said were 'fictional' and not about 'truths'. While most of the epic poems by Homer were likely to be fictional, one cannot deny that his imaginations and caliber with words have moved many and shaped the culture of Classical Greece. After all, contribution to knowledge should not only limited to 'thinkers' or 'philosophers' alike.

Pherecydes was one of the first ancient Greek thinkers to propose a cosmogony of universe, where he proposed the origin of cosmos in the world. His model had a mythological perspective, thus it would be of little instrumental use for modern audience. Yet, his proposal foreshadowed the metaphysics of the divine and the elements that comprised his vision of the universe, all divine by nature, would be secularized and naturalized by future philosophers when they put forward their own cosmological theories. The three divine elements were Zeus (the divine aspect), Earth (the spatial aspect), and Time (the temporal aspect). Such a conception of the cosmos was no different from many of the later metaphysical theories, which were more concerned with a rational argument to arrive at the conclusions.

Pherecydes was also the first thinker to propose the idea of metempsychosis - the transmigration of souls. He was among the first thinkers to assert that the soul was immortal, and could not be destructed like bodies and material objects. The eternity of the soul meant that it would travel through the underworld in the afterlife and associated itself with different bodies. While this idea sounded more like the plot of an upcoming horror or fantasy movie (with some certain doses of CGI), the ancient idea has influenced the thoughts of Pythagoras and his followers – the Pythagoreans. Metempsychosis served as the central idea of Pythagorean philosophy, and influenced the outlook of these thinkers. Plato, by adopting the idea of metempsychosis (mainly attributed to Pythagoras), reinforced the concept of the immortality and timelessness of the soul and its metaphysical importance over the body and the material realm.

The thinking caveman could therefore be considered as a proto-philosopher of the ancient age! 

by Ed Law  

Conatus Classics