Philolaus 470 BC – 385 BC
Philolaus of Croton was a Greek Pythagorean philosopher and the first member of the Pythagorean school whose writings survived into the classical period. His fragments, preserved by later authors, articulate a cosmology in which the world is built up from limiters and unlimiteds joined by harmony, and a celebrated astronomical model in which a central fire, rather than the earth, stands at the center of the universe. He was the principal source for Plato's own engagement with Pythagorean thought, and Aristotle drew on his work in his accounts of early Greek philosophy.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Greek
- Era
- Ancient
- Movements
- Pre-Socratic, Ancient Greek
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Philolaus:
“Number is the bond of the eternal continuance of things.”
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Attributed to Philolaus:
“All things which can be known have number; for it is not possible that without number anything can be either conceived or known.”
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Attributed to Philolaus:
“Order itself is harmony.”
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Attributed to Philolaus:
“The world is one composed of limiters and unlimiteds.”
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Attributed to Philolaus:
“Without number, nothing could be distinguished or thought.”