Philosopher

Pre-Socratic Philosopher

Pythagoras, a famous Greek philosopher, born around 580 B.C., was born on the Turkish coast on the island of Samos. It is thought that he may have spent his youth traveling Egypt and many other places, gaining knowledge as he went. He spent his philosophical years in southern Italy, in the city of Crotona. Pythagoras was influenced by mathematics and science, and both were the basis for his religious and philosophical theories ("Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy", 2011).

Pythagoras established a religion known as Pythagoreanism. His beliefs were structured on the complex ideas of esoteric faith and metaphysics. Although Pythagoras did not keep written documentation of his teachings, his followers recorded lessons and work in his name. The Pythagorean ideas were introduced to Western philosophy by Plato as he was greatly motivated by the work of the first, self- proclaimed philosopher.

According to "The Basics of Philosophy" (2008), Pythagoras was the first “pure mathematician” and known as the “father of number”. He and his followers believed everything in the universe had a direct relationship with numbers. For example, Pythagoras’ theory was that the health of all living creatures depended on a proper balance of elements and if the balance was not right the person or animal was unhealthy (The Basics of Philosophy", 2008). Pythagoras was also credited for creating the Pythagorean Theorem, a geometrical theory that we recognized as A2 + B2 = C2. This theory states that the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the square of the other sides.

Pythagoras also believed that he had lived previous lives and that all creatures were reincarnated into human bodies, animals, or vegetables. The idea that the earth was round was first theorized by Pythagoras, and he made connections between the planets and stars, mathematics, and music (The Basics of Philosophy", 2008).

I find the ideas and theories of Pythagoras to be...