Before the Veil (3)
Plato's successors generally adhered strictly to his theory of the soul. However, some, like Xenocrates, ventured into even bolder lines of thought. Speusippus, who was Plato's nephew and successor, was the author of "On Numbers," which discussed Pythagorean numbers. Some of his thoughts are not found in the surviving dialogues attributed to him. Nevertheless, Enfield's judgment that he may have held different views from his teacher is undoubtedly correct, given that he listened to Plato's unwritten lectures. Aristotle criticized someone who, it was claimed, refuted Plato's arguments against Pythagorean teachings, which asserted that all things are numbers themselves or inseparable from the concept of numbers. Although the name is not mentioned, this was clearly Speusippus. Aristotle particularly sought to show that Plato's theory of Forms fundamentally differed from Pythagorean teachings in that it posited that numbers and quantities exist separately from material objects. He also argued that, according to Plato, true knowledge cannot be achieved unless its object is placed beyond or above the realm of sensory experience.
しかし、アリストテレスは信頼できる証人ではなかった。彼はプラトンを誤って伝え、ピュタゴラスの教説に至っては、ほとんど戯画にしてしまった。あらゆる哲学的見解を検討する際、私たちの指針となるべき解釈上の原則がある。「人間の精神は、それ自体の法則が必然的に働くことによって、どの時代にも同じ根本観念を抱かざるをえず、人間の心もまた、同じ感情を育まざるをえなかった。」ピュタゴラスがその時代の最も深い知的共感を呼び起こし、その教説がプラトンの精神に強い影響を与えたことは確かである。彼の中心的な観念は、宇宙の形態や変化、その他の現象の根底には、恒久的な統一の原理が存在するというものだった。アリストテレスは、ピュタゴラスが「数はあらゆる存在者の第一原理である」と教えたと主張した。リッターは、ピュタゴラスの定式は象徴的に解すべきだとの見解を示したが、これは疑いなく正しい。アリストテレスはさらに、これらの数をプラトンの「形相」や「イデア」と結びつける。彼はプラトンが「形相は数である」、また「イデアは実体的な存在――実在するもの――である」と述べたとさえ断言する。しかし、プラトンはそのようには教えていない。彼が究極の目的因としたのは、至高の善――το ἀγαθόν――であった。「イデアは、人間の理性にとっては純粋な思惟の対象であり、神的理性の属性である。」[11] また、彼は「形相は数である」と述べたこともない。実際に述べたことは『ティマイオス』に見いだされる。「神は、事物が最初に生じたとき、それらを形相と数に従って形成した。」
It is recognized by modern science that all the higher laws of nature take the form of quantitative descriptions. This is probably a more detailed and clearer affirmation of Pythagoras' teachings. Numbers were considered to best represent the harmonious law that pervades the universe. Also, in chemistry, we know that atomic theories and bonding rules are actually defined by numbers, almost arbitrarily. W. Archer Butler expressed it as follows: "Therefore, the world is living arithmetic when unfolding, and realized geometry when at rest."
The key to understanding Pythagoras' teachings lies in the general formula that "one" exists within multiplicity, meaning that what is one gives rise to many, and permeates all of it. This concisely states an ancient emanation theory. Even the Apostle Paul accepted this as truth: "Εξ αυτοὺ, και δι᾽ αυτοῦ, και εις αυτὸν τὰ πάντα" – All things are from him, through him, and in him. As can be seen from the following quote, this is entirely Indian and Brahmanical.
"When the period of dissolution, Pralaya, comes to an end, the great being, Para-Atma or Para-Purusha, that is, the self-existent one from which all things emanate and through which past, present, and future exist, decides to release various beings from its own essence." (Manava Dharma Shastra, Book 1, verses 6 and 7).
The mystical number sequence, which is 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10, is one way of expressing this concept. One represents God, and two represents matter. Three connects the one and the two, representing the phenomenal world that shares the properties of both. The four-number sequence represents the form of completeness, which expresses the emptiness of all things. And the ten-number sequence, which is the sum of everything, encompasses the entire universe. The universe is a combination of a thousand elements, yet it is also an expression of a single spirit. It is chaos for the senses, but an ordered universe for reason.
The entire concept of linking the progression of numbers to the notion of creation is Indian. The self-existent being, Svaṁbhu, or what some call Svayambhu, is one. He emanates from himself a creative power, Brahma, or Purusha (the divine male), and thus becomes two. From this duality, the union of pure intellectual principle and material principle, arises a third entity, Viraja, which is the phenomenal world. From this invisible and incomprehensible trinity, a second triad emerges, representing three powers: creation, preservation, and transformation. These are represented by Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, but they repeatedly and constantly merge into one. The One, Brahma, or as he is called in the Vedas, Tridandi, is a threefold god, from which the symbolic Om arose, which is an abbreviation of the Trimurti. Only under this constant working trinity can the unseen and unknown monas manifest itself in the world of mortals. When he dons the sharira, that is, the visible form, he embodies all principles of matter, all germs of life. He is Purusha, the god with three faces, or the threefold power, which is the essence of the Vedic triad. "The Brahmans should know the sacred syllable (Om) and the three words of Savitri, and read the Vedas daily" (Manusmriti, Book 4, verse 125).
"After creating the universe, those whose power transcends understanding were absorbed into the supreme soul and disappeared once again.
...The great souls that retreated to the primordial darkness remain within unknown things, having no form."
"When minute elemental principles are once more combined and enter into a seed of plant or animal, they assume a new form each time."
"Thus, the immutable being, by alternately repeating awakening and quiescence, eternally regenerates and destroys all living beings, whether active or inactive." (From 'The Manu', Book 1, Hymn 50, etc.).
Those who have studied Pythagoras and the thought of one of his followers – a follower who retreated into silence and darkness after revealing two secrets, and thus learned the thought that created this trinity – can understand where the philosophy of this great wise man of Samos came from, and also where the subsequent philosophies of Socrates and Plato originated.
Author's Notes
[11] Cousineau, History of Philosophy, I, ix.