Pythagoras Revived : Mathematics and Philosophy in Late Antiquity

Professor of Philosophy Dominic J O'Meara
Oxford University Press (UK)
 9780198239130
0-19-823913-0

The Pythagorean idea that number is the key to understanding reality inspired philosophers in the fourth and fifth centuries to develop theories in physics and metaphysics using mathematical models. These.

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theories were to become influential in medieval and early modern philosophy, yet until now, they have not received the serious attention they deserve. This book marks a breakthrough in our understanding of the subject by examining two themes in conjunction for the first time: the figure of Pythagoras as interpreted by the Neoplatonist philosophers of the period, and the use of mathematical ideas in physics and metaphysics.