Persian philosophy

Priscianus of Lydia’s Solutionum ad Chosroem is a series of answers to questions asked at a philosophical debate held at the Sasanian court c. 530 CE. Priscianus of Lydia was one of seven non-Christian philosophers from the Byzantine Empire who journeyed to the Sasanian Empire to take part in the debate. Long overlooked in the history of philosophy, Priscianus of Lydia’s text represents a branch of Neoplatonism that survived for centuries uninfluenced by the official Christianization of the Roman Empire. Priscianus of Lydia was one of the last remaining representatives of non-Christian Neoplatonism in Late Antiquity. Solutionum ad Chosroem provides a record of the world of Neoplatonism shortly before it disappeared under a tide of officially Christian philosophy and theology. I discusses the context of Priscianus’ work and its relation to activities in the Byzantine Empire, such as Emperor Justinians suppression of paganism and the closing of the Academy in Athens in 529 CE. I also discuss the specific contents of the Solutionum ad Chosroem, including questions on first principles, generation, natural history, and the relationship between the soul and the body.

This paper deals with an essential problem which the modern western thinker faced with and tried to find a solution for that in the benefit of modern humanity. This problem is human reason and his free mind. The author tries here to go back to Zarathrustrian concept of mind and bring forth some fresh reflections in a comparative way. This will let him to evaluate in the main the view that argues for the difference between the Asiatic concept of free mind and the Western concept of free mind. Some reflections and conclusions of the author here should be taken in the light of this evaluation.