Pythagoras & Protagoras

Thesis Statement

Protagoras denies a perfect form for all things, while Pythagoras clearly presents the better case with harmonia.

Pythagoras, known as “the father of numbers” through his Pythagorean Theorem is

regarded as the first to seek for the form of all things . From Protagoras’s perspective, named as

one of the “Sophists” by Plato, there would probably be no exact form for anything. Without an

understanding of a true source from which all form flows with, we eliminate all possibility of

discovering the greater truth form carries with it. Pythagoras on the other hand deeply searches for a reason for the cosmos in every function of life, and that, carries a significant purpose for form.

Mathematical formulas and ratios, Pythagoras claimed were at the very center of the physical world through which the form of matter could be explained. The Pythagorean perspective stresses that number is universal, "the principle, source, and root of all things" . The formula of the Tetras in which the number 10 is held as the nature of a number can be seen by far as the most solid argument for the form of all things. All four numbers which include one, two, three, and four when added come to equal ten, thus reflecting the essential source of nature and reality together, in which all the cosmos are arranged according to harmonia. Harmonia consists of a melodic framework of three chords where the ratio of the octave is 1:2, the fifth 2:3, and the fourth 3:4 . This phenomenon represents perfect proportionality to the universe by means of form. Now each chord retains its individual identity, but all are still proportionally connected together to form a larger musical scale, thus all three chords needing to be interdependent of one another. Like an ecosystem that works together with its given environment, it most importantly has to function as a unit, via symbiotic relationships . You see, our society works in a similar way as well by functioning as a whole. The trees and plants give off the air we need to breathe, the sun provides us with the warmth we need to survive, and by being able to survive we’re able to develop a political system through which we run our country with. After all, the Greek word harmonia, does mean “fitting together” , because number does give purpose to proportion, and proportion does give purpose to harmony, thus giving a form for all things.

On the contrary side Protagoras claimed that nothing was solely right or wrong, true or false and that through a man’s own authority, "man is the measure of all things” . Therefore everyone’s opinions differ from one another, which mean that what might seem true to one person might appear false to the other. This would leave us with no objective truth to cling to, no absolute form for anything. Protagoras developed this theory into what we call relativism . This supposition pretty much enables anyone no matter who you are or what you do to be correct in your own opinion about anything. This perspective is very broad in a sense where each and every person’s beliefs are inevitably and infallibly true, taken to a personal level by resulting as a truth for that person only. No one else