Show Notes
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Where did the idea of good and evil actually come from? Before Christianity, before Judaism, before almost any tradition we can name, a priest on the ancient Iranian steppe looked at the world and saw a moral structure written into reality itself. His name was Zarathustra, and his vision became one of the most influential religious traditions most people have never heard of.
This episode traces the full arc of Zoroastrian thought, from the passionate hymns of the Gathas through the cosmic dualism of Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu, the revolutionary ethics of free will and the goodness of the material world, the astonishing influence this tradition exercised on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the living Zoroastrian communities that carry this ancient fire into the present.
(0:00:00) Before Good and Evil Had Names (0:37:50) The Architecture of the Cosmos (1:16:19) The Choice That Makes the World (1:53:45) The Longest Shadow (2:32:22) Fire That Does Not Go Out
Suggested Reading: Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices by Mary Boyce: https://amzn.to/4ugB75A Zoroastrianism: An Introduction by Jenny Rose: https://amzn.to/3Pm2CKQ The Spirit of Zoroastrianism edited by Prods Oktor Skjaervo: https://amzn.to/3OWvIAm Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche: https://amzn.to/3OM97GO
Follow Sleepy Philosophy Radio for more longform philosophy. Support the channel: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/sleepyphilo/subscribe Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used: Anguish, Blue Feather, Evening Fall (Harp), Gregorian Chant, Heartbreaking, Lightless Dawn, Lone Harvest, Magic Forest, Mesmerize, Mourning Song, Oppressive Gloom, Promising Relationship, Quinn's Song: A New Man, Relent, Smoother Move, Sunset at Glengorm, Trio for Piano Cello and Clarinet, Wounded
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