Zoroastrianism The teachings of
Zarathustra (Zoroaster) appeared in
Persia at some point during the period 1700-1800 BCE. His wisdom became the basis of the religion
Zoroastrianism, and generally influenced the development of the
Iranian branch of
Indo-Iranian philosophy. Zarathustra was the first who treated the problem of evil in philosophical terms. He espoused an
ethical philosophy based on the primacy of
good thoughts (andiše-e-nik), good words (goftâr-e-nik), and good deeds (kerdâr-e-nik). The works of Zoroaster and Zoroastrianism had a significant influence on
Greek philosophy and
Roman philosophy.
Plato learnt of Zoroastrian philosophy through Eudoxus and incorporated much of it into his own
Platonic realism. In the 3rd century BC, however,
Colotes accused Plato's
The Republic of plagiarizing parts of Zoroaster's
On Nature, such as the
Myth of Er. Zarathustra was known as a sage, magician and miracle-worker in
post-Classical Western culture, though almost nothing was known of his ideas until the late eighteenth century. By this time his name was associated with lost ancient wisdom and was appropriated by
Freemasons and other groups who claimed access to such knowledge. He appears in Mozart's opera
The Magic Flute ("Die Zauberflöte") under the variant name "Sarastro", who represents moral order in opposition to the "Queen of the Night".
Enlightenment writers such as
Voltaire promoted research into Zoroastrianism in the belief that it was a form of rational
Deism, preferable to
Christianity.. In 2005, the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy ranked Zarathustra as first in the chronology of philosophers. Zarathustra's impact lingers today due in part to the system of rational ethics he founded called Mazda-Yasna. The word Mazda-Yasna is
Avestan and is translated as "Worship of Wisdom" in English. The encyclopedia
Natural History (Pliny) claims that Zoroastrians later educated the Greeks who, starting with
Pythagoras, used a similar term, philosophy, or “love of wisdom” to describe the search for ultimate truth.
Greco-Persian Era Little is known of the situation of philosophy during the time of the ancient Greek philosophers. We know that the Persian culture had an influence on the creation of
Stoic school of thought, but nothing has been left in Persian writings.
Manichaeism Manichaeism, founded by
Mani, was influential from
North Africa in the West, to
China in the East. Its influence subtly continues in Western Christian thought via Saint
Augustine of Hippo, who converted to Christianity from Manichaeism, which he passionately denounced in his writings, and whose writings continue to be influential among Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox
theologians. An important principle of Manichaeism was its
dualistic cosmology/
theology, which is shared with
Mazdakism, a philosophy founded by Mazdak. Under this
dualism, there were two original principles of the universe: Light, the good one; and Darkness, the evil one. These two had been mixed by a cosmic accident, and man's role in this life was through good conduct to release the parts of himself that belonged to Light. Mani saw the mixture of good and bad as a cosmic tragedy, while Mazdak viewed this in a more neutral, even optimistic way.
Mazdakism Mazdak (d. 524/528 CE) was a proto-
socialist Persian reformer who gained influence under the reign of the
Sassanian king
Kavadh I. He claimed to be a
prophet of God and instituted communal possessions and
social welfare programs. In many ways Mazdak's teaching can be understood as a call for social
revolution, and has been referred to as early "
communism" or proto-socialism.
Zurvanism Zurvanism is characterized by the element of its First Principle which is Time, "Zurvan", as a primordial creator. According to Zaehner, Zurvanism appears to have three schools of thought all of which have classical Zurvanism as their foundation:
Aesthetic Zurvanism Aesthetic Zurvanism which was apparently not as popular as the
materialistic kind, viewed Zurvan as undifferentiated Time, which, under the influence of desire, divided into reason (a male principle) and concupiscence (a female principle).
Materialist Zurvanism While Zoroaster's
Ormuzd created the universe with his thought,
materialist Zurvanism challenged the concept that anything could be made out of nothing.
Fatalistic Zurvanism Fatalistic Zurvanism resulted from the doctrine of limited time with the implication that nothing could change this preordained course of the material universe and that the path of the astral bodies of the 'heavenly sphere' was representative of this preordained course. According to the
Middle Persian work
Menog-i Khrad: "
Ohrmazd allotted happiness to man, but if man did not receive it, it was owing to the extortion of these planets." ==Classical Islamic period==