Irorian Philosophy

Why This Article?

Religious thought fascinates me. In our world it proceeds from some holy book or other (and here I'm referring to the great Abrahamic traditions) to endless reinterpretations, exegeses, and apologetics (read: retcon) to find eternal truths or justify faith

But what if it was the other way around? There was a god (or at least a concept of it) called Irori long before Sutos. it's unclear whether the Emperor even acknowledged him; however, his works were adopted by the clergy of that deity as an ideal expression of their god's dictates.

Emperor Sutos the Just was a scholar and philosopher before a soldier - and, later on, a politician. He thought seriously about how a normal human might live an honorable and good life. (While some accuse his works of being myopically human-centric, others have pointed out that the brief lifespan of thse folk justifies the need for such exploration.)

It was a fashion in the Third Age scholarship to think in terms of "method", a technical form of expression following a simple formula, as follows:

• Primus: Identify and explain the purported problem or issue.
• Secundus: Explore various means of resolving the above, with an emphasis in making an argument for the author's preferred approach.
• Tertius: Explain a comprehensive plan (the "method") for efficently achieving those goals.

Often these topics can cover multiple thick volumes, as the author tries to cover each topic and objection in minute (and frequently agonizing) detail. Sutos' approach was simpler. Through his ability to clearly see and identify only relevant matters, combined with skillful and careful word choices, each of his works fill but a single (albeit weighty) volume.

His three works (often called the Triptych) cover each of Body, Mind, and Enlightenment. It is unclear whether Sutos believed in souls, but he clearly felt that some heightened spiritual states elevated the moral and ethical clarity of the individual. The Church of the Seven Emperors implies heavily that enlightenment and faith are synonymous. Some theologians disagree, arguing that to assume so is to rob non-believers of Sutos' message.

The Works of Sutos
On the Method of Conducting Reason