Iamblichus: On the General Science of Mathematics by John Dil... - 9781350194847

Iamblichus: On the General Science of MathematicsAuthor(s): John Dillon, J.O. Urmson\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, United Kingdom\nImprint: Bloomsbury Academic\nISBN-13: 9781350194847, 978-1350194847\nSynopsis\nOn the General Science of Mathematics is the third of four surviving works out of ten by Iamblichus (c. 245 CEearly 320s) on the Pythagoreans. He thought the Pythagoreans had treated mathematics as essential for drawing the human soul upwards to higher realms described by Plato, and downwards to understand the physical cosmos, the products of arts and crafts and the order required for an ethical life. \n\nHis Pythagorean treatises use edited quotation to re-tell the history of philosophy, presenting Plato and Aristotle as passing on the ideas invented by Pythagoras and his early followers. Although his quotations tend to come instead from Plato and later Pythagoreanising Platonists, this re-interpretation had a huge impact on the Neoplatonist commen.