The Influence of the Iranian Worldview on Greek Philosophy by Estiphan Panoussi argues that key foundations of Greek philosophy did not develop in isolation, but were significantly shaped by earlier Iranian (Persian) religious and philosophical ideas. The book challenges the common Western assumption of Greek intellectual self-origination by tracing conceptual parallels—especially in metaphysics, ethics, cosmology, and dualism—between Iranian traditions (notably Zoroastrian thought) and Greek philosophers from the pre-Socratics through Plato and later Hellenistic thinkers.
 
Panoussi examines historical contact between the Iranian and Greek worlds through conquest, trade, and cultural exchange, then analyzes shared themes such as the struggle between good and evil, cosmic order, moral responsibility, the immortality of the soul, and teleological views of history. He contends that these ideas entered Greek philosophy not merely as myths or religious notions, but as formative intellectual frameworks that helped shape Greek rational inquiry itself.
 
Overall, the book is a corrective scholarly work that reframes Greek philosophy as part of a broader ancient Near Eastern intellectual continuum, highlighting Iran’s under-recognized role in the development of Western philosophical thought.