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AGATHON - ASHURA - MAZDA Should Agathon be the first name of the 'Good God' (with Ashura and Mazda as 'supporting names')? Agathon just means 'the Good' in Greek and would naturally refer to the highest nature of the Good God - something ultimately divine and timeless. Ashura - the lord of Asha - the righteous governor - is the active presence of Agathon in time and space. Mazda - the Wise One - is the wisdom which supports the Ashura, (MZ) ------------------- AGATHON The "Form of the Good", or "the idea of the good" is a concept described by the character of Socrates in Plato's Republic. The Form of the Good is a perfect, eternal, and changeless Form, existing outside space and time, in which particular good things share. It cannot be clearly seen or explained, but it is the form that allows one to realize all the other forms. Plato somewhat mysteriously compares the form of the good to the sun; what the sun does to illuminate and nourish the world humans can merely see with their senses, and what the good does for the world humans can investigate with their intellect. Aristotle says that all things aim at the good (agathon). The good for human beings, he says, is flourishing or happiness (eudaimonia ), and the qualities that enable people to reach these goals he calls virtues (aretai). The good doesn't consist in pleasure because there are also bad pleasures. (Plato) The good doesn't consist of knowledge because knowledge must be knowledge of something, namely, the good , which is a circular argument. (Plato) Our desire for the good is not satisfied by appearances but only by something which really is good. (Plato) The knowledge of the idea of the good is required to know the goodness and usefulness of just and beautiful things. (Plato) The good is the final cause of all that is good in desire and action. (Plato) --------------------------- 1. Zoroaster's teaching was all about separating the good from the bad. He may not have called his highest god 'The Good' but in effect 'The Good' is the god he worshipped. He used lots of words to describe different aspects of his god - not only Ahura and Mazda but the different Amesha Spentas - and what they have in common is they are all part of The Good. 2. I half agree with you about Plato. A god needs to be an active being not just a static ideal. Our understanding of Agathon doesn't have to be the same as Plato's. ================================================================= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_of_the_Good https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἀγαθός AGATHON - First name of the 'Good God' ? The "Form of the Good", or "the idea of the good" is a concept described by the character of Socrates in Plato's Republic. The Form of the Good is a perfect, eternal, and changeless Form, existing outside space and time, in which particular good things share. It cannot be clearly seen or explained, but it is the form that allows one to realize all the other forms. Plato somewhat mysteriously compares the form of the good to the sun; what the sun does to illuminate and nourish the world humans can merely see with their senses, and what the good does for the world humans can investigate with their intellect. Aristotle says that all things aim at the good (agathon). The good for human beings, he says, is flourishing or happiness (eudaimonia ), and the qualities that enable people to reach these goals he calls virtues (aretai). The good doesn't consist in pleasure because there are also bad pleasures. (Plato) The good doesn't consist of knowledge because knowledge must be knowledge of something, namely, the good , which is a circular argument. (Plato) Our desire for the good is not satisfied by appearances but only by something which really is good. (Plato) The knowledge of the idea of the good is required to know the goodness and usefulness of just and beautiful things. (Plato) The good is the final cause of all that is good in desire and action. (Plato) |