Pythagoras. School of Pythagoras, Pythagoreans
Report: "Pythagorean school".
Ryazantsev Viktor Viktorovich
group P4-00-02
Pythagoreanism is an idealistic doctrine in ancient philosophy of the 6th-4th centuries. BC, which considered the number as the formative principle of all that exists and influenced the views of Plato and Neoplatonism. In the school founded by Pythagoras, secret rites were practiced, asceticism was preached, etc. The Pythagoreans developed the theory of music, the problems of mathematics and astronomy, and on this basis derived a system of knowledge about the world as a set of detailed numerical definitions (one - absolute, two - its unformed, potential separation, three - abstract, four - concrete, bodily shape of the absolute, etc.). P.). Pythagoreanism contained a number of mystical ideas: about the transmigration of souls, about the "harmony of the heavenly spheres", i.e. about the subordination of the movement of the cosmos to musical relationships.
Introduction.
The history of Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans can be described tentatively. Probably at the end of the 6th c. under Pythagoras, the general theoretical content of Pythagoreanism, its religious, scientific and philosophical teachings are formed. Pythagoreanism reaches its peak at this time. In the second half of the 5th c. the philosophical teaching of the Pythagoreans, freed from religious prohibitions, comes to the fore. At the end of the 5th - the first half of the 6th century, Pythagoreanism develops into Platonism and merges with it in the activities of the ancient Academy.
1. Creation of the organization "Pythagorean Union".
Pythagoras, son of Mnesarchus, a Samian, was born in 576. BC. According to legend, he studied in Egypt and traveled a lot. Around 532. , hiding from the tyranny of Polycarp, he settled in Croton, where he quickly gained wide popularity and created a religious-philosophical and political organization - the Pythagorean Union. This alliance was aimed at the dominance of the best in the religious, scientific, philosophical - "moral" sense. Pythagoras tried to create an "aristocracy of the spirit" in the person of his disciples, who conducted state affairs so excellently that it was truly an aristocracy, which means "the rule of the best."
The ritual of initiation into the members of the Pythagorean brotherhood was surrounded by many mysteries, the disclosure of which was severely punished. “When the younger ones came to him and wished to live together,” says Iamblichus, “he did not immediately give consent, but waited until he checked them and made his judgment about them.” But even, having got into the order after a strict selection and trial period , newcomers could only listen to the voice of the teacher from behind the curtain, but they were allowed to see him only after several years of purification by music and ascetic life. However, this was not severe Christian asceticism, mortifying the flesh. Pythagorean asceticism for the beginner was reduced, first of all, to a vow "The first exercise of the sage," testifies Apuleius, "was for Pythagoras to humble his language and words to the end, those very words that poets call flying, to conclude, having plucked feathers, behind a white wall of teeth. In other words, here what the rudiments of wisdom boiled down to: to learn to think, to unlearn to talk.
Moral principles and commandments of Pythagoras.
The system of moral and ethical rules, bequeathed to his students by Pythagoras, was collected in the moral code of the Pythagoreans - "Golden Verses". They have been rewritten and supplemented throughout the thousand-year history. In 1808 rules were published in St. Petersburg, beginning with the words: Zoroaster was the legislator of the Persians.
Lycurgus was the legislator of the Spartans.
Solon was the legislator of the Athenians.
Numa was the legislator of the Romans.
Pythagoras is the legislator of the whole human race.
Here are some extracts from a book containing 325 Pythagorean commandments:
Find yourself a true friend, having him, you can do without the gods.
Youth! If you wish yourself a long life, then refrain yourself from satiety and any excess.
Young girls! Remember that a face is beautiful only when it depicts a graceful soul.
Do not chase happiness: it is always in yourself.
Do not worry about gaining great knowledge: of all knowledge, moral science is perhaps the most necessary, but it is not taught.
Today it is absolutely impossible to say which of the hundreds of such commandments go back to Pythagoras himself. But it is quite obvious that they all express the eternal universal values that remain relevant as long as a person is alive.
The lifestyle of the Pythagoreans.
The Pythagoreans led a special way of life, they had their own
special daily routine. The day of the Pythagoreans was to begin with verses:
Before you get up from the sweet dreams of the night
Think, spread out what things the day has prepared for you.
When they woke up, they did mnemonic exercises that helped memorize the necessary information, and then they went to the seashore to meet the sunrise, pondered the affairs of the coming day, after which they did gymnastics and had breakfast. In the evening, they shared bathing, a walk, dinner, after which a libation to the gods and reading. Before going to bed, everyone gave himself an account of the past day, ending with his verses:
Do not allow lazy sleep on tired eyes,
Before you answer three questions about the day's business:
What I've done? What didn't he do? What is left for me to do?
The Pythagoreans paid much attention to medicine and psychotherapy. They developed techniques for improving mental abilities, the ability to listen and observe. They developed memory, both mechanical and semantic. The latter is possible only if the beginnings are found in the knowledge system.
As you can see, the Pythagoreans took care of both physical and spiritual development with equal zeal. It was they who gave birth to the term “kalokagathia”, denoting the Greek ideal of a person who combines the aesthetic (beautiful) and ethical (good) principles, the harmony of physical and spiritual qualities.
Throughout the history of Ancient Hellas (Greece), kalokagatia remained a kind of cult for the ancient Greeks and passed from them to the ancient Romans.
The Pythagorean way of life was determined by the fact that there is no greater evil than anarchy (anarchy), that a person by nature cannot remain prosperous if no one is in charge. The supreme authority belongs to God. This is their principle and the whole way of life is arranged in such a way as to follow God. And the basis of this philosophy is that it is ridiculous to act like people who are looking for good somewhere else, and not with the Gods. After the Gods, rulers, parents and elders, as well as the law, should be respected.
The way of life of the Pythagoreans included the doctrine of different ways of dealing with people depending on their status in society. The meaning of this way of life is the subordination of a person to authority. It is not difficult to see in the Pythagorean ideal a flexible socio-political concept adapted to the execution by the ruling groups of society. Built on the authority of society and the law, it requires adherence to paternal customs and laws, even if they are worse than others.
Religious and philosophical doctrine.
In the religious and philosophical teaching of early Pythagoreanism,
two parts are distinguished: “akusmata” (heard), i.e. positions, orally and without proof, presented by the teacher to the student, and “mathematics” (knowledge, teaching, science), i.e. actual knowledge.
The provisions of the first type included indications of the meaning of things, the preference for certain things and actions. They were usually taught in the form of questions and answers: What are the Isles of the Blessed? - Sun and moon. What is the most fair? - Offering Sacrifices. What is the most beautiful thing? - Harmony, etc.
The Pythagoreans had many symbolic sayings. The collection of these sayings, called akusmas, replaced the charter of the society. Here are some of the Pythagorean acusmas and their interpretations:
Do not eat the heart (i.e. do not undermine the soul with passions or grief)
Do not stir fire with a knife (i.e. do not hurt angry people)
When leaving, do not look back (i.e. before death, do not cling to life)
Do not sit down on a grain measure (i.e. do not live idly).
There is an opinion that initially the Pythagorean acusmas were understood in the literal sense, and their interpretations were contrived later. For example, the first akusma reflected the general Pythagorean ban on animal food, especially the heart is a symbol of all living things. But in its initial form, this is pure magic: defense against witchcraft, such as smoothing and rolling the bed, is necessary so that there are no body prints left on it, which the sorcerer could influence and, thereby, damage the person. Or, for example, it was forbidden to touch beans, anyway, like human meat. According to one myth, the beans came from the drops of blood of the torn Dionysus Zagreus, which is why they were forbidden to eat. In general, all these stories only once again remind us that the Pythagoreans lived a very long time ago - two and a half millennia ago, that a clear mind and high morality were shrouded in the minds of an ancient person with a beautiful fairy-tale veil.
The scientific worldview of the Pythagoreans. Cosmogony and
cosmology.
As for their own knowledge, Pythagoras is credited with geometric discoveries, such as the well-known Pythagorean theorem on the ratio of the hypotenuse and legs of a right triangle, the doctrine of five regular bodies, in arithmetic - the doctrine of even and odd numbers, the beginning of the geometric interpretation of numbers, etc. .
Pythagoras first used the word cosmos in its current sense to define the entire universe and its most important side - orderliness, symmetry, and hence beauty. The Pythagoreans proceeded from their main thesis that "order and symmetry are beautiful and useful, while disorder and asymmetry are ugly and harmful." But the beauty of the macrocosm - the Universe, the Pythagoreans believed, is revealed only to those who lead a correct, well-organized way of life, i.e. who maintains order and beauty in his microcosm. Consequently, the Pythagorean way of life had an excellent "cosmic goal - to transfer the harmony of the universe into the life of man himself."
The cosmogony of the Pythagoreans can be described as follows: the world, composed of the limit and the infinite, is a sphere that arises in the infinite emptiness and “breathes” it into itself, thereby expanding and dismembering. This is how the world space, celestial bodies, movement and time arise. In the middle of the world is fire, the home of Zeus, the connection and measure of nature. Next come the Counter-Earth, the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, the five planets and the world of the fixed stars. The counter-earth was introduced for round counting, as the tenth celestial body, with its help lunar eclipses were explained. The cosmic bodies originated from the central fire and revolve around it, attached to the crystal spheres. The planets, including the Earth, rotate from west to east, always facing the central fire on one side, so we do not see it. Our hemisphere is warmed by the rays of the central fire reflected by the Sun.
The cosmology of the Pythagoreans represents a significant step forward. The rejection of geocentrism, the recognition of the spherical shape of the Earth, its daily circulation around the central fire, the explanation of solar eclipses by the passage of the Moon between the Sun and the Earth, and the seasons by the inclination of the earth's orbit in relation to the sun, represented a significant approximation to the truth.
But the matter is not limited to this physical picture. Pythagoreanism creates a certain logical scheme of the universe, correlated with a moral assessment. This side of the matter is presented in the doctrine of opposites, which is presented as follows: limit and infinity, odd and even, one and many, male and female, resting and moving, light and dark, good and bad, quadrangular and many-sided.
It's not just a matter of opposition - opposites unite. Speaking of Pythagoras as the founder of civic education, Iamblichus attributed to him the idea that none of the existing things is pure, everything is mixed, and fire with the earth, and fire with water, and air with them, and they with air, and even the beautiful with the ugly, and the just with the unjust.
The next idea of the Pythagoreans is the idea of harmony. Its origins can be sought, if not from Pythagoras himself, then from Alcmeon of Croton, a representative of Pythagorean medicine. This doctor considered everything that exists as a product of connection, mixing, harmonic fusion of opposites. He believed that the balance of the forces of moist, dry, cold, warm, bitter, sweet, etc., maintains health, and the dominance of one of them is the cause of the disease. Health is a proportionate mixture of such forces. This commensurate mixture was called “harmony” by the Pythagoreans, becoming one of the basic concepts of their teaching: everything in the world is necessarily harmonious. The gods are harmonious, the cosmos is harmonious, because all its constituent moments are absolutely coordinated into a single and inseparable whole. The state and the king are harmonious, because the strength of bonding all people into a single whole depends on it.
The physiological conjectures and discoveries of Alcmaeon are striking: he established that the organ of mental and mental processes is not the heart, as it was believed before, but the brain, established the difference between the ability to perceive and the ability to think, which belongs only to man, and also proved that sensations are communicated to the brain through special pathways connecting the sense organs with the brain.
The doctrine of the transmigration of souls.
It was in the teachings of Pythagoras and a lot of mystical, foggy
and simply ridiculous not only for our contemporaries, but also for the contemporaries of Pythagoras. Among such doctrines was the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, the posthumous transmigration of the human soul into animals, that “everything that is born is born again at intervals of time, that there is nothing new in the world, and that all living things should be considered related to each other.”
The Pythagoreans had specific ideas about the nature and fate of the soul. The soul is a divine being, it is imprisoned in the body as a punishment for transgressions. The highest goal of life is to free the soul from bodily darkness and prevent it from moving into another body. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to fulfill the moral code of the “Pythagorean way of life”.
From the teaching on the transmigration of souls, prescriptions also followed, prohibiting the killing of animals and eating their meat, since the soul of a dead person could dwell in an animal.
This part of the Pythagorean doctrine was regarded by many with a very cool air, and was often ridiculed and attributed to foreign influence.
Philosophy of number.
The main philosophical orientation of Pythagoras was
philosophy of number. The numbers of the Pythagoreans at first did not differ at all from the things themselves and, therefore, were simply a numerical image. At the same time, not only physical things were understood numerically, but in general everything that exists, such as goodness or virtue. Then they began to be interpreted as essences, principles and causes of things.
The Pythagoreans, indulging in mathematical studies, considered the beginnings of everything to be numbers, since in numbers they found many similarities with what exists and happens, and in numbers the primary elements of all mathematical principles.
Initially, the Pythagoreans form a purely concrete physical understanding of the number: numbers are special extended things that make up the objects of the sensory world. They are the beginning and element of all things. The logical basis of this representation is the geometric understanding of numbers: a unit is a point, two points define a straight line, three points define a plane. Hence the idea of triangles, squares, rectangles. Triangle - is the primary source of birth and creation of various kinds of things. The square carries the image of the divine nature, this figure symbolizes high dignity, because right angles betray integrity, and the number of sides is able to resist force. Here it is necessary to mention the main Pythagorean symbol - the Pythagorean star,
which is formed by the diagonals of a regular pentagon.
There is another striking fact. Exactly
the star pentagon is most common in wildlife (recall the flowers of forget-me-not, carnation, bluebell, cherry, apple tree, etc.) and is fundamentally impossible in crystal
personal grids of inanimate nature. Fifth-order symmetry is called the symmetry of life. This is a kind of protective mechanism of living nature against crystallization, against petrification, for the preservation of living individuality. And it is this geometric figure that the Pythagoreans choose as a symbol of health and life.
The Pythagorean star (pentagram) was a secret sign by which the Pythagoreans recognized each other.
Of the many numbers, the number "36" is sacred: 1 + 2 + 3.
It consists of a unit, and without a unit there is not a single number and it symbolizes “unity.” - the unity of being and the world.
It consists of two, which symbolizes the fundamental polarity in the Universe: light-darkness, good-evil, etc.
It consists of three, the most perfect of numbers, for it has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
In addition, amazing transformations are possible in the number “36”, for example: 36 = 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8.
It can be concluded that the numbers of the Pythagoreans are the fundamental universal objects, to which it was supposed to reduce not only mathematical constructions, but also the whole variety of reality. Physical, ethical, social and religious concepts have received a mathematical coloring. The science of numbers is given a huge place in the system of worldview, i.e. in fact, mathematics is declared philosophy.
The Pythagoreans attributed special importance to numbers in the matter of knowledge. According to Philolaus, “number is the basis of the form and cognizability of everything that exists. Everything known has a number. For without it it is impossible to understand or know anything.”
CONCLUSION. Significance of religious, scientific and
philosophical doctrine of the Pythagoreans.
The long and complex history of Pythagorism raises many questions for researchers. However, we can formulate the following fairly well-founded assessments of the meaning and theoretical content of the Pythagorean teachings.
The ideology of Pythagorism includes three main components: religious-mythological-magical; scientific, connected with the development of mathematics; and philosophical. The last aspect demonstrates the desire to find the "beginning" of all things and with its help to explain the world, man and his place in space. However, the leading material tendency is replaced by an idealistic one, which was based on the most important discovery associated with the development of mathematical knowledge - the discovery of the possibility of revealing ordered and numerically expressible quantitative relations of everything that exists.
The numerical regularity of existence revealed by the Pythagoreans - this is an extended world of bodies, the mathematical laws of the movement of celestial bodies, the laws of musical harmony, the law of the beautiful structure of the human body, and other discoveries - appeared as a triumph of the human mind, which a person owes to a deity.
Unfortunately, for a thousand years of ancient traditions, real information and causing deep respect for the personality of Pythagoras were mixed with many legends, fairy tales and fables. Many miracles could be told about Pythagoras. But the main miracle that glorified him was that he led mankind out of the labyrinths of myth-making and God-seeking to the shores of the ocean of exact knowledge. The morning bathing of the Pythagoreans in the waves of the Ionian Sea was also a daily prelude to sailing on the ocean of knowledge. Only the purpose of the voyage was not the search for treasure, but the search for truth.
Pythagoras was apparently the first to reveal to mankind the power of abstract knowledge. He showed that it is the mind, and not the senses, that bring true knowledge to a person. That is why he advised his students to move from the study of physical objects to the study of abstract mathematical objects. So mathematics becomes for Pythagoras an instrument of knowledge of the world. And mathematics is followed by philosophy, because philosophy is nothing but the extension of the accumulated special (in this case, mathematical) knowledge to the field of worldview. This is how the famous Pythagorean thesis is born: “Everything is a number”. Thus, in the depths of the Pythagorean union, mathematics and philosophy are born.
They considered it possible with the help of mathematics to achieve purification and union with the deity. Mathematics was one of the constituent parts of their religion. “God is unity, and the world is many and consists of opposites.
That which brings opposites to unity and unites
everything in space, there is harmony. Harmony is divine
and is in numerical terms. Who will study to the end
this divine numerical harmony, he himself will become divine
nym and immortal.”
Such was the Pythagorean union - the favorite brainchild of the great
th Hellenic sage. Truly it was a union of truth, goodness
and beauty.
IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
- Asmus V.F. ancient philosophy. M. 1976.
- Bogomolov A.S. ancient philosophy. M. 1985.
- Diogenes Laertes. About the life, teachings and sayings of famous philosophers. M. 1979.
- Taranov P.S. 120 philosophers. Simferopol, 1996.
- Sokolov V.V. ancient philosophy. M. 1958.
- Losev A.P. History of ancient aesthetics. M. 1994.
- Windelband V. History of ancient philosophy. Kyiv. 1995.
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The heyday of Greek civilization falls on the period between the VI century BC. and the middle of the 2nd century BC. e.
The development of knowledge among the Greeks has no analogues in the history of that time.
The scale of the comprehension of sciences can be imagined at least by the fact that in less than three centuries Greek mathematics has gone its way - from Pythagoras to Euclid, Greek astronomy - from Thales to Euclid, Greek natural science - from Anaximander to Aristotle and Theophrastus, Greek geography - from Hekcatea of Miletus to Eratosthenes and Hipparchus, etc.
The discovery of new lands, land or sea voyages, military campaigns, overpopulation in fertile areas - all this was often mythologized. In the poems, with the artistic skill inherent in the Greeks, the mythical side by side with the real. They set out scientific knowledge, information about the nature of things, as well as geographical data. However, the latter are sometimes difficult to identify with today's ideas.
The Greeks paid great attention specifically to the geographical knowledge of the Earth. Even during military campaigns, they did not leave the desire to write down everything that they saw in the conquered countries. In the troops of Alexander the Great, even special pedometers were allocated, which counted the distances traveled, made a description of the routes of movement and put them on the map.
Based on the data they received, Dikearchus, a student of the famous Aristotle, compiled a detailed map of the ecumene of that time, according to him.
The simplest cartographic drawings were known even in primitive society, long before the advent of writing. This can be judged by rock paintings.
Architecture, sculpture, painting
The leading architectural structures in Greece of the classical period were temples and theaters. In the 5th century BC. urban planning emerges. The main architectural structure was the temple.
Painting was widespread in ancient Greece, but, unfortunately, almost did not survive to our time. Certain ideas about Greek painting give us red-figure and black-figure vases that have come down to us.
Pythagorean school
Pythagoras, the founder of the school, like Thales, traveled a lot and also studied with the Egyptian and Babylonian sages. Returning around 530 BC. e. to Magna Graecia (a region of southern Italy), he founded something like a secret spiritual order in the city of Croton. It was he who put forward the thesis “Numbers rule the world”, and with exceptional energy he was engaged in its justification. At the beginning of the 5th century BC e., after an unsuccessful political speech, the Pythagoreans were expelled from southern Italy, and the union ceased to exist, but the popularity of the doctrine from dispersion only increased. Pythagorean schools appeared in Athens, on the islands and in the Greek colonies, and their mathematical knowledge, strictly guarded from outsiders, became common property.
Many of the achievements attributed to Pythagoras are probably in fact the merit of his students. The Pythagoreans were engaged in astronomy, geometry, arithmetic (number theory), created the theory of music. Pythagoras was the first European to understand the significance of the axiomatic method, clearly highlighting the basic assumptions (axioms, postulates) and the theorems deduced from them deductively.
The geometry of the Pythagoreans was mainly limited to planimetry (judging by the later works that have come down to us, very fully expounded) and ended with the proof of the “Pythagorean theorem”. Although regular polyhedra were also studied.
A mathematical theory of music was built. The dependence of musical harmony on the ratios of integers (string lengths) was a strong argument of the Pythagoreans in favor of the primordial mathematical harmony of the world, sung by Kepler 2000 years later. They were convinced that "the elements of numbers are the elements of all things ... and that the whole world as a whole is harmony and number." The basis of all the laws of nature, the Pythagoreans believed, is arithmetic, and with its help one can penetrate into all the secrets of the world. Unlike geometry, their arithmetic was not built on an axiomatic basis, the properties of natural numbers were considered self-evident, but the proofs of theorems were steadily carried out here too.
The Pythagoreans advanced a lot in the theory of divisibility, but they became overly fond of games with "triangular", "square", "perfect", etc. numbers, which, apparently, were given a mystical meaning. Apparently, the rules for constructing "Pythagorean triples" were already open then; exhaustive formulas for them are given by Diophantus. The theory of greatest common divisors and least common multiples is also apparently of Pythagorean origin. Probably, they also built a general theory of fractions (understood as ratios (proportions), since the unit was considered indivisible), learned to perform comparison (reduction to a common denominator) and all 4 arithmetic operations with fractions.
The first crack in the Pythagorean model of the world was their own proof of irrationality, formulated geometrically as the incommensurability of the diagonal of a square with its side. The impossibility of expressing the length of a segment by a number called into question the main thesis of Pythagoreanism. Even Aristotle, who did not share their views, expressed his amazement at the fact that there are things that "cannot be measured with the smallest measure."
The talented Pythagorean Theaetetus tried to save the situation. He (and later Eudoxus) proposed a new understanding of the number, which was now formulated in geometric language, and there were no problems of commensurability. However, it subsequently turned out that the construction of a numerical algebra on the basis of geometry was a strategic mistake of the Pythagoreans; for example, from the point of view of geometry, the expressions x2 + x and even x4 did not have a geometric interpretation, and therefore did not make sense. Later, Descartes did the opposite, building geometry on the basis of algebra, and made tremendous progress.
Theaetetus also developed a complete theory of divisibility and a classification of irrationalities. It can be assumed that the whole division with a remainder and the "Euclid's algorithm" for finding the greatest common divisor also first appeared among the Pythagoreans, long before Euclid's "Beginnings". Continued fractions as an independent object were singled out only in modern times, although their incomplete partials are naturally obtained in the Euclid algorithm.
Greek mathematics strikes, first of all, with the beauty and richness of its content. Many scientists of the New Age noted that they learned the motives for their discoveries from the ancients. The rudiments of analysis are noticeable in Archimedes, the roots of algebra in Diophantus, analytic geometry in Apollonius, etc. But the main thing is not even that. Two achievements of Greek mathematics far outlived their creators.
First, the Greeks built mathematics as an integral science with their own methodology based on clearly formulated laws of logic.
Secondly, they proclaimed that the laws of nature are comprehensible to the human mind, and mathematical models are the key to their knowledge.
In these two respects, ancient mathematics is quite modern.
The teachings of Pythagoras are one of the most interesting phenomena in Greek philosophy. It has an independent meaning and is important as one of the elements in Plato's philosophy, if it cannot be considered its main element. The direction of Pythagoras runs through the entire history of Greek philosophy: it originates simultaneously with the Milesian school and is transformed during its last period into neopythagoreanism.
Pythagoras. Bust in the Capitoline Museum, Rome
It is remarkable that the further we move away from Pythagoreanism, or the later a commentator lived, the more abundant his information, the more he knows about the teachings of Pythagoras and about himself, the more eloquently his narration, and no less eloquently silent are those who could talk, because they are not separated by centuries. Poetic fiction adorned the figure of the Crotonian sage with semi-legendary features - the divine Pythagoras remembers his previous lives, he is surrounded by universal adoration, the Roman king Numa Pompilius is none other than his disciple. This very fiction took on a historical form, and from its soil grew that false information, which was repeated for a long time and took deep roots - that is, that Pythagoras was the first to call himself a philosopher. The latest research has shown that this term came into use only under the disciples of Socrates: only in the 4th century. BC words of wisdom (Sofia) and sophistry are beginning to be replaced by the new expression "philosophy", i.e. "love of wisdom" .
There are historians of philosophy who deny any scientific significance of the teachings of Pythagoras and see its entire meaning in religious beliefs, in the salvation of the soul. But can Pythagoreanism be considered only a sect? What is its actual meaning?
The religious beliefs of the Pythagoreans are nothing more than threads that connect this teaching with the East. These threads begin and end with knots, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to unravel these knots. Did Pythagoras really penetrate the secrets of the Egyptian priests, and from there did he carry out his conviction that the body is the grave of the soul, as well as the belief in the immortality of souls, in judgment over them and their resettlement? Was the founder of the great Greek doctrine in Babylon, and was it not under the influence of the Zend-Avesta that he transferred the performance of bloodless sacrifices to Greece? Did he penetrate into India and did he borrow the theory of vision from the Brahmins? The travels of Pythagoras are one of the strong points of the explorers of the East and the object of attack for all those who deny the originality of Greek philosophy. Wishing to deny borrowings, these researchers usually deny the journeys themselves.
It is not impossible that his father's trading business might have forced Pythagoras to undertake voyages to Egypt, Babylon, and even India, but he may have learned his religious beliefs from another source. Namely: the doctrine attributed to Pythagoras about the immortality of the soul is already found in Hesiod, and Orphic theogony is imprinted with other features that characterize his beliefs. Herodotus mentions the Egyptian origin of the Orphic and Pythagorean mysteries (II, 49, 81, 123). But whether these elements were brought into Pythagoreanism directly or through the Orphics, it is both difficult and unimportant to decide. Equally difficult and insignificant is the question of whether Pythagoras was a student of Pherekides, the author of one of the theogony, and whether he borrowed the doctrine of the transmigration of souls into demons from there. It is incredible that he was a student of the Milesian philosopher Anaximander, although there is a known connection between these teachings.
But the importance of the teachings of Pythagoras does not lie in religious beliefs. Its meaning is a deep philosophical outlook.
Among other (almost 20) works, Pythagoras is also credited with the Golden Verses, where there are many proverbial thoughts, and other deeper, but less well-known ones, such as “help the one who carries his burden, and not to the one who is going to throw it off", "the value of the statue lies in its form, the dignity of a person in his actions." The ideal of Pythagoras was godlikeness and, according to his teaching, in order to become God, one had to first become a man. The teachings of Pythagoras possessed all the features of a vivid ethical theory.
The personality of the Croton sage is charming. In the stories about him, Pythagoras is surrounded by a halo of beauty, eloquence and thoughtfulness. According to sources, "he never laughed." His biography is shrouded in misty haze: birth between 580 and 570. BC, resettlement from the island of Samos (off the coast of Asia Minor) to the South Italian colony of Croton between 540 and 530, then flight to neighboring Metapont and death in advanced years. That's all we know about Pythagoras positive.
When order and harmony serve as the ideal, then nothing can be higher numbers . According to the teachings of Pythagoras, order and harmony are carried out in number. Number is therefore the essence of the world, the secret of things, the soul of the universe. A number is not a symbol because it is much larger than a symbol. And without a number, everything would merge into boundless indifference. Since a thing is a number, it is good: a lie never penetrates into a number, because a lie is disgusting and hateful to its nature, and truth is inherent in a number. Pythagoras reduces virtue to numbers, and such ethics is an important part of his entire philosophical teaching.
The school was founded by Pythagoras in Croton (Southern Italy) and existed until the beginning of the 4th century. BC, although the persecution of it began almost immediately after the death of Pythagoras in 500. In fact, it was the first philosophical school, a religious and philosophical aristocratic brotherhood; she had a great influence on the Greek policies of southern Italy and Sicily.
The union was distinguished by strict customs and high morality. The way of life of the Pythagoreans went down in history: as the legends tell, the students of the School could always be recognized by their appearance and noble behavior.
However, both appearance and behavior were only a consequence of the views of philosophers on the human soul and its immortality, which implied a certain upbringing in this, earthly life. In this they are close to their predecessors - the Orphics, followers of the doctrine that preached the purest morality and severe asceticism; Its founder is the legendary Orpheus. According to these views, the human soul goes through several stages in its development, in particular, a number of incarnations on the physical plane, the meaning of which is the acquisition of inner experience, the achievement of catharsis, purification from the legacy of the early stages of development.
This was served by the moral principles followed by the Pythagoreans: "Always strive to be fair in words and deeds", "Let - what is most important - your conscience become your main judge." In the morning and in the evening - at the hours most suitable for reflection - it was necessary to take a mental look at everything that has been done and what remains to be done: "You shouldn't sink into a restful sleep before you again remember every day's deed, what did you do wrong? What could do? And what didn't he do?"
The Pythagorean school laid the foundation for the mathematical sciences. Numbers were understood as the essence of everything that exists, they were given a mystical meaning. The basis of Pythagorean mathematics is the doctrine of the decade: 1+2+3+4=10. These four numbers describe all the processes taking place in the world. In particular, a decade reflects the laws of musical harmony: the main musical intervals are expressed through it - an octave (2: 1), a fifth (3: 2), a quart (4: 3). The mathematical method in modern science in this sense is a consequence of the popularization and demystification of the Pythagorean doctrine.
The Pythagoreans own the doctrine of the music of the spheres and the musical scale, reflecting the harmony of the solar system, where each planet corresponds to a certain note, and together they create intervals of the musical scale. They also laid the foundation for musical psychology: music was used as a means of education and healing of the soul and body.
Astronomy and medicine began to develop in the Pythagorean school. She created many allegorical commentaries on Homer, as well as a grammar of the Greek language.
PYTHAGOREAN SCHOOL, or about the education of philosophers and a little about love
“May you live in an era of change!” - so they said in ancient China, when they wanted to wish a person all sorts of troubles. And so it fell to us to live at a time when no one knows what trials fate will put him before tomorrow. In order to be able not only to wait out difficult times - although this is not easy in itself - but to live, remaining human and accepting the challenges of fate, it is necessary to show inner strength. This power, which liberates from the oppression of external circumstances and makes it possible to act, is inherent in us from the very beginning, it is awakened by education and, of course, self-education and is inspired by the examples that we find in the world around us and in history. An excellent example of this kind is the Pythagorean school, whose students adequately withstood the hardest blows of fate.
There is no need to talk in detail about Pythagoras, because his name is familiar to everyone from school, and his life is more worthy of a multi-volume novel than a magazine article. In addition, the greatness of people is judged by their deeds, and the greatest of the creations of Pythagoras is his school. Undoubtedly, Pythagoras was a great sage. For more than thirty years he studied first in Greece, then in Egypt, and then in Babylon, and probably learned everything that was possible in those days to know about the universe and man. He was versed in all sciences, he was a high priest, a Hierophant, initiated into many mysteries. The legend that he was the son of Apollo was widely known and that did not cause any doubts among his contemporaries - this man was so great and beautiful, his authority was so high and unshakable, although he did not hold important government posts. He was invited as a wise adviser in public affairs, he was expected in temples as a great priest, but instead of enjoying honor and glory, he left for the Italian coast, to Croton, where he founded the first philosophical school in history.
Why did such a school exist? In the VI century. BC e. Greece was going through a turning point, its life was changing dramatically and rapidly. City-states expanded, conquering their living space, the way of life changed, people were more and more concerned about the profit from trade and an increase in the number of slaves, they began to get used to luxury and wealth. Frequent internecine wars kept everyone in constant tension, accustoming people to live by momentary interests. Religion by that time had lost its significance, the humanized gods, endowed with our usual shortcomings, with their sorrows and joys, quarrels and reconciliations, outbursts of passions and emotions, sank so low that they lost their role as strongholds of the world order and conductors of higher laws and principles. The Mysteries coming from the depths of centuries, the keepers of wisdom and knowledge, were mostly closed and were available only to a select few. In such a situation, something new was required that would be understandable to a simple person and at the same time could elevate him, become a reliable support in life and a barrier to inner confusion and emptiness. And so philosophy was born. This word was introduced by Pythagoras, who called himself not sophos - “wise”, but philosophos - “lover of wisdom”. This was a manifestation of modesty, emanating from the highest wisdom, which is alien to narcissism; later, thanks to Socrates, the word became a household word and acquired a new connotation. A philosopher is a person who realizes that he does not possess the highest wisdom, but loves it with all his heart and therefore sincerely and purely seeks it in everything that surrounds him. Wisdom is immense, it covers everything that exists, from the atom to the universe, and the desire for wisdom is the desire to know life itself in all its manifestations and aspects, to realize one's place in it and, as a natural consequence, the desire to best manage one's destiny and fulfill one's own destiny. life mission.
By the very combination of these two words - “love” and “wisdom” - Pythagoras revealed great knowledge to people: the beginning must be sought not so much in wisdom (especially since the ancient wisdom was almost lost by that time), but in love, including love for wisdom. Much more important than knowledge itself is what directs us to it - and this is love, love not for oneself as a kind of vessel filled and replenished with knowledge, but for someone or what we want to know - for man, nature, the universe .
Philosophy became the cornerstone of learning in the Pythagorean school. A wide variety of sciences were studied here: mathematics, geometry, astronomy, music and much more; older students also dealt with practical issues: economics, politics, medicine. But at the same time, the Pythagoreans comprehended the main thing - Love with a capital letter, love for everything that exists. And since love cannot be taught - it can only be learned, layer by layer removing the covers of callousness and selfishness - this process lasted for many years. Each student went through three main stages in the School.
The first stage, the first step on the path to philosophy was the very admission to the School. Already here, the differences between the Pythagorean system of education and the system of education adopted then and preserved, in general, to this day, were clearly manifested. If the latter sets as its main task to educate a person - that is, to instill in him certain skills, to convey the knowledge and norms necessary for life in society - then the main goal of Pythagorean education was to change a person, to reveal his inner abilities, which he could best use for the benefit of others. But not everyone can refrain from using these manifesting internal potentials for personal purposes, therefore, when accepting a person to the School, Pythagoras paid attention not to how developed, smart, strong he was or what abilities he possessed, but to how much he possessed himself and knows how to manage those internal forces that he already has, how sincere and disinterested he is in his desire for knowledge. After all, knowledge used as an object of sale or a tool to achieve personal goals cannot be useful and ultimately turns against the one who uses it in this way. Therefore, the first stage - admission to the school - was very unusual, especially from the current point of view. The school did not seek to recruit as many new students as possible by luring them with promises; on the contrary, Pythagoras usually sent the candidate back, advising him to wait and come back in three years. This outwardly very severe reception was filled with deep meaning - after all, any impulse, even the most beautiful and pure, must pass the test of time. In addition, if a person easily receives what he aspires to, he does not realize the full value of what he has gained, taking it for granted. Someone left offended and even harbored anger; but if a person nevertheless returned, this confirmed that his desire to study at the School was the call of the soul, and testified to the strength of character, without which it is impossible to be a student.
At the same time, the future student, not suspecting that, passed the first test - the test of the strength of his love. Experiencing inner loneliness, isolation from the School to which he aspired, a person had to awaken in himself the power of inspiring love, calling love, that love that leads us through life, like a guiding star. He had to see, to find in himself the fire of love for wisdom, this torch capable of dispelling the darkness of loneliness, ignorance and delusion. Of course, the student did not know about this "task", but his return already meant awakening, the first victory of light in himself and served as the basis for admission to the School.
After admission, the second stage began, which, from the standpoint of today, may also seem very strange. Now we are surrounded by schools, universities, courses that are just waiting for the moment when we get to them in order to begin "giving us knowledge." We can still understand the need for entrance "examinations" - tests of the Pythagoreans; but it would seem that if a person has already shown that he can be trusted with knowledge, that he really strives to learn, then you should take him and teach him! But just as it is impossible to send a one-year-old child even to elementary school, so in order to start studying philosophy, a person must grow up internally and independently realize many things. Love, including the love of wisdom, everyone must find for himself, comprehend, absorb from the surrounding world in order to gain the ability to give it in the same natural way.
During this period, a person was not yet considered a student of the School and was called an acusmatik (“listener”). He listened, absorbed, realized - and all this happened in silence. As Iamblichus writes, Pythagoras “prescribed a five-year silence to the acusmatists, testing their ability to refrain, since silence is the most difficult kind of abstinence.” All five or seven years, while a person passed this stage, he worked and attended special classes that were taught by the senior students of Pythagoras. At the same time, the student did not spend all his time in philosophical reflections, but was also engaged in simple physical work: he cultivated fields and gardens, looked after cattle, and did many other things necessary for the existence of the School. It was this combination of constant concrete work, reflection and silence that helped him calm down the polyphony of thoughts and feelings vied with each other sounding inside. After all, only inner silence allows a person to hear the only quiet voice that accompanies him all his life and which, nevertheless, few people can hear - the voice of the inner “I”, coming from the innermost depths of the soul. And in order to direct the acoustician’s thoughts in the right direction and help to hear this inner voice, he was given the so-called akusms as topics for reflection - concise statements, for example, “Don’t go on the beaten paths”, “Don’t stir the sharp fire”, “Don’t speak without light " and others. These akusmas contained both practical recommendations and psychological advice for communicating with oneself and other people, as well as deep symbolism. Unfortunately, only purely utilitarian and some moral interpretations of akusmas have come down to us, and their metaphysical meaning remains hidden. For the acoustician, this period was a stage of purification, when he had to prepare himself for the acceptance of the teachings of Pythagoras. It is impossible to pour clean water into a dirty vessel, as it will immediately become contaminated; and before touching true love and true wisdom, the student must work hard and for a long time to purify the soul and subdue his thoughts and feelings. It was a period of knowledge of purifying love, love-wisdom, ennobling the soul by the mere existence of an object of love.
Only after many years of such work did the acusmatist become a real Pythagorean student and move on to the next level of education. Now he bore the title of mathematician - "knowing". In the classes conducted by Pythagoras himself or his closest students, mathematicians were given a complete picture of the world, the structure of Nature and man was revealed. Studying the science of numbers and geometric figures, as well as astronomy, they learned the basic principles and laws of the universe; playing music, they comprehended the harmony of the universe and the human soul. The fact that Pythagoras was versed in all branches of knowledge allowed him to build a system of education on the synthesis of sciences, arts, philosophies and religions, which gave students the opportunity to seek and find the truth in many ways. Almost nothing is known about the details of the training of mathematicians, since the secret of the transmitted knowledge was kept very strictly. From the bits of information that have come down to us, it is clear, for example, that Pythagoras taught the students of the School the heliocentric astronomical system, although outside the School he gave explanations on the basis of the geocentric system, which was easier to understand for the uninitiated.
The training of mathematicians took place over a long period of time, but it was also only a preparation. Why? In order to become able to be useful, to help people - for true love cannot exist without the desire to give, to share fate, with all its sorrows and joys. To devote oneself to the service of people, society, everyone who needs help and protection is a natural step for a mature philosopher. And when the students of mathematics were ready for this, there was a choice of those directions and forms in which this service would be carried out, and then the final training of the chosen “specialty”. Some studied what is now called economics, because the first "economists" were those of the Pythagoreans who were responsible for taking care of the School's property and its proper use. Others studied medicine in order to go out of the School into the world as doctors and heal the bodies and souls of people.
The highest level in the Pythagorean school was considered the training of politicians - people capable of managing society. They had a difficult task - to lead people on the basis of the common good, not being led by either their own or other people's interests, and direct them to higher goals, helping to realize their unity, the existence of higher principles and laws of human society and the state. Later, Plato revised and expanded the Pythagorean theory of the state, opening it to everyone, but, unfortunately, after that it began to be perceived as a utopia and remained in history "Plato's ideal state model." But it was a practical and very concrete science; It is not for nothing that many of Pythagoras' disciples became famous as legislators and fair keepers of laws - they tried to use the best of what they had learned at the School, adapting the laws to the mores and customs of their peoples. The years when the Pythagoreans participated in public affairs were prosperous, they managed to ennoble the morals of even those people who were distinguished by licentiousness and intemperance.
At this last stage, the knowledge of transforming love begins, that love that transforms, completely changes a person and everything with which he comes into contact. Any act of such love, which is at the same time the highest wisdom, naturally and inevitably bears the stamp of justice, goodness and beauty, transferring it to everything it comes into contact with. Such love-wisdom is the crown of the student's enormous efforts and does not leave him for the rest of his life, it literally transforms a person and the whole world around him. From the moment of its manifestation, it becomes the main driving force for a person, giving him both inspiration and strength, not allowing him to retreat in front of the most difficult obstacles. An excellent evidence of this is the numerous stories of friendship and love of the Pythagoreans, their willingness to help each other and share any hardships, dangers and trials.
The school attracted pure, noble people from the most distant corners of the world, served as a stronghold of hope, illuminating the world around with its light. It lasted only about forty years, but all these years, like a beacon in bad weather, it showed those caught in a storm that there is solid ground nearby, that there are eternal values and moral laws against which the stormy waves of the changing world break.
But at all times, pure and bright, by the very fact of its existence, restores everything dark, vicious, selfish against itself ... Obviously, Pythagoras and his disciples stood out too sharply against the general background with their nobility, altruism and wisdom. This aroused the discontent and even hatred of many low, greedy and vain people: some envied the respect and honor that the Pythagoreans received, and the fact that they always do everything well and correctly; others were dissatisfied with the fact that, by establishing just laws, the Pythagoreans prevented them from profiting at the expense of others; the hatred of others was engendered by infringed ambitions - after all, it was impossible to get into the School through patronage or for money. The dissatisfied fellow citizens disliked absolutely everything: the fact that the Pythagoreans do nothing thoughtlessly, that they do not violate the given word, that they complete all things that they rise with the sun, that they wisely manage their property, that they have everything in common, that Pythagoras admits to their studies, not all, that they keep their knowledge in secret... All this has become a breeding ground for a conspiracy against the School. The dissatisfied ones were led by Kilon, imperious, cruel, ambitious, who at one time was denied admission to the School. Actively playing on people's discontent, he started a real war against Pythagoras and his students. After waiting for the moment when forty of the most authoritative Pythagoreans gathered together to discuss public affairs, he ordered them to be locked in the house and set on fire. Only two of them managed to escape. The impunity of the murderers opened the way for a real persecution of the Pythagoreans. Many were killed, their property was taken away, their land plots were divided. The survivors were forced to flee.
Then, during the period of severe trials, the Pythagorean upbringing showed itself in full measure. Although the students had to defend themselves, their loved ones and the School itself from attacks without weapons, not one of them showed himself to be a coward; on the other hand, after all that had happened, no one began to take revenge, creating their own court and reprisals against the persecutors. When they failed to restore justice legally, they left Croton and dispersed throughout the world. In new places, they continued their noble work, bringing light and good to those who aspired to the highest. And although the School itself no longer existed, it sprouted, as seeds germinate, on the soil of other countries and cities. Each Pythagorean was like a grain - he carried an impulse, a sprout of hope and light, and where he found fertile soil, this grain germinated, giving rise to a response in the souls of people, giving new grains. Thus, through a chain of disciples, the Pythagorean school existed for another thousand years, almost until the fall of the Roman Empire.
“A student is not a vessel that needs to be filled, but a torch that needs to be lit” - this ancient phrase perfectly describes the main principle of the education of philosophers in the Pythagorean school and at the same time conveys the basic principle of love: by lighting others from one fire, love is transmitted from heart to heart , and the more people are ignited by it, the brighter and easier it is not only for them, but for everyone around. And although more than two thousand years separate us from the Pythagorean school, perhaps even today someone’s heart will flare up, lit by its light ... Each person carries a spark of philosophical fire, the fire of love-wisdom, and everyone can open it in himself , realizing that the main thing is not in the possession of something, even the highest or secret knowledge, but in Love. True philosophy is a state of mind that is not determined by the amount of knowledge, academic degrees and honorary awards, but is awakened by the power of pure and selfless love. And as long as true philosophers exist, the Pythagorean school will also live - a classic example of philosophical education and high love.
