Professor Seyyed Hossain Nasr | The Five Volumes of Persian Philosophy

In this interview, Professor Seyyed Hosain Nasr describes the creation of his monumental five-volume anthology on Persian philosophy, a project spanning over three decades. He details how the work was originally commissioned by UNESCO to document a 2,500-year intellectual tradition stretching from pre-Islamic Zoroastrian thought to modern times. Nasr emphasizes that the collection is organized by schools of thought rather than simple chronology, highlighting the "main trunk" of Islamic philosophy that flourished in Persia and influenced global discourse. A significant portion of the work is dedicated to Ismaili philosophy, which Nasr argues has been historically overlooked despite its profound impact on the mainstream Islamic intellectual heritage. Ultimately, he presents these volumes not as mere history, but as a living philosophical resource that challenges the secularized definitions of modern Western thought. The project seeks to restore Persian philosophy to its rightful place on the global stage by making rare and technical texts accessible to an English-speaking audience.