Phil 210
Prof. Aikin
Sept 8 2014
What sense can be made of Pythagoras’ orders to his followers in F13 and F14 (C6, C3)? To Pythagoreans, the state of harmony is the “most beautiful”(27). Pythagoras considers people should live according to the law of the kosmos, which is the law that governs the system of universe and preserves the internal harmony. Pythagoras’ life orders are supposed to be the law of real life derived from the law of the kosmos to protect his followers’ harmony and help them achieve more happiness. Throughout his orders, Pythagoras is passing out three messages to his followers: to preserve the natural, to avoid chaos, and to respect the law of harmony. Before interpreting his orders, it is essential to understand the notion of the law of the kosmos. According to Pythagoras that “numbers, as I have said, constitute the whole universe”, he contends that mathematics “are the principles of all things that are”(29). The entire universe, the kosmos, is run by the law of mathematics and contains the harmony in its self-governed system. After finding resemblance with mathematics in music and plants, i.e. the golden ratio, Pythagoreans are further convinced that the law of the kosmos, i.e. mathematics and numbers, is the nature of everything. Since the law of the kosmos both creates harmony and runs the nature, world, the most natural thing is supposed to be the most harmonic and “beautiful”. Hence, Pythagoras’ followers are eager to preserve the natural and original state of being in order to achieve their state of harmony. The first message that Pythagoras presents is to preserve the original and natural state of being, because to stay in harmony is the core to building a perfect life. The notion of preserving the original state has been fully elaborated in fragment 13. Pythagoras asks his followers not to break bread because “friends long ago used to meet over a single loaf just as foreigners still do, and not to divide what brings them together.”(27) Since the law of the kosmos causes friends to reunite, “what brings them together” is purely natural and harmonic. However, breaking the bread is destroying the nature. To protect the harmony, people should leave the bread the way it originally was. Pythagoras also warns people against wearing rings in Fragment 14. Like the world, an intact and harmonic human body is created by the law of the kosmos. Wearing a ring is putting pressure on a finger. Due to the pressure, blood will not flow as fluidly as it is supposed to. The harmony of a body, which is sustained by the circulating blood, is impaired. Moreover, it leaves an imprint on the finger and taints the integrity of a body. Thus, there is no reason a Pythagorean can wear a ring. Also, a Pythagorean should not have a swallow in his house (27). Though swallows love to live under house roofs, they make noises that destroy the natural harmonic voices of a family. Pythagoras’ second message warns followers to keep away from disorder that destroys the harmony and disrespects the law of the kosmos. If cleanness should be an original state, dirtiness should be what Pythagoreans’ resent. For this reason, fallen things cannot be eaten for their dirtiness is against the natural state and harms the harmony. Also, stirring the fire with a knife (27) is doubling the sin because it is breaking the harmony with deliberate violence. How evil would a Pythagorean be to commit this? Though Pythagoras gives no specific explanations for the result of breaking the harmony, we infer from his warnings that it may lead to total ruin. Given that the law