Philolaus of Croton: Pythagorean and Presocratic

This is the first comprehensive study for nearly 200 years of what remains of the writings of the Presocratic philosopher Philolaus of Croton (c. 470–385 BC). These fragments are crucial to our understanding of one of the most influential schools of ancient philosophy, the Pythagoreans; they also show close ties with the main lines of development of Presocratic thought, and represent a significant response to thinkers such as Parmenides and Anaxagoras. Professor Huffman presents the fragments and testimonia (including the spurious fragments in a separate section for reference) with accompanying translations and introductory chapters and interpretive commentary. He not only produces further argument for the authenticity of much that used to be neglected, but also undertakes a critique of Aristotle's testimony, opening the way for a quite new reading of fifth-century Pythagoreanism in general and of Philolaus in particular. Philolaus is revealed as a serious natural philosopher.

"...rich and rewarding...The book is clearly a labor of love, and Huffman does his best to give us a Philolaus who has important and intelligent things to say; but he is not blind to faults, honestly pointing out difficulties and obscurities where they occur in Philolaus' thought. 'Important' is a term that is used far too often in book reviews; but this is an important book; it has been a long time since 1819 [when the first book devoted to Philolaus alone was published], but Carl Huffman's Philolaus of Croton: Pythagorean and Presocratic has been worth waiting for." Bryn Mawr Classical Review, "...an outstanding work...Huffman's views on Philolaus' mathematical orientation are exciting and deserve special attention..." Luis Vega, Mathematical Reviews, "Huffman's book is, without question, a major contribution to Presocratic studies. As a result of the many richly detailed and extremely well-argued analyses of the fragments Huffman has produced we now have solid grounds for dating a sizeable portion of the Philolaus material (roughly a third of the standard texts) to the second half of the fifth century BCE. More importantly, Huffman's excellent study will almost certainly stimulate further exploration of Philolaus' role in the debates that characterized Presocratic thought, arguably the only truly seminal period in the history of Western philosophy." J.H. Lesher, Ancient Philosophy, "Huffman's splendid new book is the most important investigation of Pythagoreanism since the (already) classic study by Walter Burkert,Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism...." The Review of Metaphysics, "...Huffman has produced a major contribution to early Greek thought. All research libraries and all students of the pre-Socratics will want to own this book." David Sider, Classical World