Pythagoreanism and Indian Origins of Plato's Eschatology

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of the influence of Pythagoreanism on Plato's doctrine of the immortality of the soul in the context of the issue of intercultural communication of ancient India and Greece in the field of religion and philosophy. The study of this issue is carried out within the framework of the comparative methodology. At the beginning of the article, the most obvious traces of the influence of the Pythagorean tradition in the eschatological doctrine of Plato are given. Further, the reasons that create objective difficulties in determining the degree and nature of the influence of Pythagoreanism on the Platonic doctrine of the immortality of the soul are indicated. We are talking about the special nature of the representation of the Pythagoreans in Plato's dialogues, about the lack of historical information about the personality of Pythagoras, about the influence of various mythological and religious traditions on him, about the close connection between Pythagoreanism and Orphism. Special attention is paid to the characterization of the Greco-Indian relations and the forms of cultural contacts from the 6th century BC. The special conditions of these contacts are noted, which made the exchange of religious ideas and eschatological teachings between countries unlikely. Alternative sources of the doctrine of metempsychosis in Ancient Greece are considered, among which the internal transformation of the Greek religion and changes in the traditional ideas of the ancient Greeks about human and his spiritual basis are of primary importance.