Racionalización de la Harmonía. Reflexiones sobre música y número en la cosmología pitagórica

Abstract

This article represents an attempt to understand some of the epistemic implications introduced on Western rationality by the Pythagorean formulation of harmony in terms of numeric ratios. A discussion is conducted on the role that music played in the emergence of that rationality, and the origin of the distinction between acousmatic and mathematical Pythagoreans is traced debating its commonly accepted explanation. Finally, some elements of Aristoxenus musical theory, in direct opposition to that supported by the Pythagoreans, are presented.