f) Explain the Pythagorean concept of soul. ( about 150 words
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Pythagoras
The Greek philosopher Pythagoras (approx. 570—495 BCE) was the founder of the metaphysical-religious movement of Pythagoreanism.
Pythagoras is best known today for his work in mathematics, namely the Pythagorean theorem which still bears his name, but he is also said to be the first to call himself a philosopher.
However, Pythagoras was also the founder of a religious movement, which included some irrational beliefs that cannot accurately be called philosophical in their formation or expression. His early group of followers resembles a cult more than a school.
The Pythagorean Soul
Among the religious beliefs that Pythagoras, and later Pythagoreans, promoted was the immortality of the soul, as well as transmigration of the soul between different animal species. Pythagoras reportedly believed in a sort of reincarnation, that one’s soul would occupy another body after death. These were not exclusively human bodies, but rather the bodies of any sort of animal. Thus, Pythagoras had the view that all animals (and perhaps even plants) had souls. There is also evidence that he may have also believed that the sort of animal one’s soul would be transferred into depended on one’s actions, perhaps from a moral standpoint.
Pythagoras’ belief about the immortality of the soul was an influence on Plato.