Pythagoreanism - "Wheel of Birth" and Scientific Contemplation

"Wheel of Birth" and Scientific Contemplation

The Pythagoreans believed that a release from the "wheel of birth" was possible. They followed the Orphic traditions and practices to purify the soul but at the same time they suggested a deeper idea of what such a purification might be. Aristoxenus said that music was used to purify the soul just like medicine was used to purge the body. But in addition to this, Pythagoreans distinguished three kinds of lives: Theoretic, Practical and Apolaustic. Pythagoras is said to have used the example of Olympic games to distinguish between these three kind of lives. Pythagoras suggests that the lowest class of people who come to the games are the people who come to buy or sell. The next higher class comprises people who come to participate in the games. And the highest class contains people who simply come to look on. Thus Pythagoras suggests that the highest purification of a life is in pure contemplation. It is the philosopher who contemplates about science and mathematics who is released from the "cycle of birth." The pure mathematician's life is, according to Pythagoras, the life at the highest plane of existence.

Thus the root of mathematics and scientific pursuits in Pythagoreanism is also based on a spiritual desire to free oneself from the cycle of birth and death. It is this contemplation about the world that forms the greatest virtue in Pythagorean philosophy.