毕达哥拉斯主义的数——一座经验世界与形而上学之间的桥梁

The Pythagorean Number:A Bridge Between Empirical and Metaphysical Worlds

毕达哥拉斯学派是一个具有科学、宗教等多重性质的团体,毕达哥拉斯主义哲学的核心思想是数本原思想,即认为数是万物的本原。因此数作为本原具有两方面特征:一方面通过点线面的途径把握经验世界中有形体的可感事物,另一方面通过数字的象征意义来把握无形体的抽象事物。数本原思想的提出是要解决此前米利都哲学用物质性本原无法解释抽象事物的困境,但由于毕达哥拉斯学派不能清晰地区分具象和抽象,导致毕达哥拉斯主义的数还具有物质实在性,这是其自身的历史局限性。但就其进步意义来看,数作为本原正是基于统一于量的规定性,因而成为哲学史发展中衔接经验世界和形而上学之间必不可少的环节。

Pythagorean School is a group with multiple properties such as science and religion.The core idea of Pythagorean philosophy is the thought of number principles,that is,it believes that number is the principle of all things.Therefore,as a principle,number has two characteristics:on the one hand,it grasps the sensible things with form in the empirical world by the way of point,line and surface;on the other hand,it grasps the abstract thingswithout form through the symbolic meaning of numbers.The idea of number principles is to solve the dilemma that the material arche can not explain abstract things in Miletus philosophy.However,because the Pythagorean School can not clearly distinguish between concrete and abstract,the number of Pythagorean doctrine still has material reality,which is its own historical limitation.However,in terms of its progressive significance,taking number as the principles is based on the stipulation of unity in quantity,so it has become an essential link between the empirical and metaphysical worlds in the development of philosophy history.