The mythical narrative of transmigration tells the story of myriad wandering souls, each migrating from body to body along a path of recurrence amid the becoming of the All. In this highly original study, James Luchte explores the ways in which the concept of transmigration is a central motif in Pythagoras' philosophy, representing its fundamental meaning. Luchte argues that the many strands of the tale of transmigration come together in the Pythagorean philosophical movement, revealing a unity in which, for Pythagoreans, existence and eschatology are separated only by forgetfulness. Such an interpretation that seeks to retrieve the unity of Pythagorean thought goes against the grain of a long-standing tradition of interpretation that projects upon Pythagoras the segregation of 'mysticism' and 'science'. Luchte lays out an alternative interpretation of Pythagorean philosophy as magical in the sense that it orchestrates a holistic harmonization of theoria and praxis and through this reading discloses the radical character of Pythagorean philosophy.

Introduction: The Poetic Topos of the Doctrine of Transmigration 1. Genealogy of the Doctrine of Transmigration 2. Beyond Mysticism and Science: Symbolism and Philosophical Magic 3. The Emergence of Mystic Cults and the Immortal Soul 4. Philolaus and the Question of Pythagorean Harmony 5. The Alleged Critique of Pythagoras by Parmenides 6. Between the Earth and the Sky: On the Pythagorean Divine 7. The Pythagorean Bios and the Doctrine of Transmigration 8. The Platonic Rupture: Writing and Difference 9. Plotinus: The Ascent of the Soul toward the One 10. Plotinus as Neoplatonic Mystic: Letter to Flaccus Epilogue: The Fate of the Doctrine of Transmigration BibliographyIndex