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Manichaeism

Philosophy
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Manichaeism is a dualistic religion positing eternal struggle between light (good) and darkness (evil). It frames existence as cosmic moral conflict.

Detailed Definition
Poetry engages Manichaeism through stark contrasts, moral allegory, or apocalyptic imagery. Philosophically, it explores the allure and danger of absolute dualism—often complicating binaries to show how light and dark intertwine, challenging simplistic moral cartographies in human experience.
Example
Example in poetry:
William Blake’s Urizen and Orc embody eternal struggle between reason and energy; John Milton’s Paradise Lost frames cosmic war between God and Satan; W.B. Yeats’s “The Second Coming” depicts moral inversion as Manichaean collapse; Percy Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound opposes tyrannical Jupiter with liberating love; Derek Walcott’s Omeros contrasts colonial violence with redemptive sea; Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” pits daughter’s light against father’s Nazi darkness.
Additional Notes
Manichaeism posits eternal light/dark struggle. In poetry, it appears as moral dualism: Milton’s Heaven/Hell, Plath’s “Daddy.” Students should note how poets complicate or critique binary thinking. Related to dualism, hybris, and mythos. Professors can contrast ancient Manichaeism with modern ideological polarization.
Also Known As
Dualism Gnostic dualism Light-darkness dualism
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