¶ … mythos and logos?
The most direct linguistic renderings of 'mythos' and 'logos' into English would be that of 'myth' and 'logic.' In our current conceptualization of faith, there is often a distinction between these different ways of knowing. It is commonly expressed in the public discourse that faith and science are fundamentally bifurcated. Another way of conceptualizing the notion of 'mythos' and 'logos' is the difference between 'being' and 'thinking.' To be living in mythological time is to be living and being in the present. There is a unity of body and mind, rather than a division. Mythos is also seen as ritual time, in which the past is reenacted and made present. On a very literal level, logos means a 'laying out' of something, implying a certain degree of rational order that is inherent in the universe that can be observed provided the individual regards the world with enough scrutiny. Mythos gives us no such reassurance, suggesting that other ways of apprehending the world around us are necessary to understand the workings of the cosmos.
For example, in a religious ritual of symbolism like the blowing of the shofar or the Christian Mass, the ancient history of the faith is taken into the present through religious reenactment. A myth is something that cannot be pinned down to a historical date. A myth is something that exists in 'all time' rather than at one time. It could also be argued that art and literature are directly connected to mythos. One of the greatest compliments one can give to any work of fiction, or any rendering of an artistic subject is that it is timeless in nature. A great film like Casablanca,...
Sophocles' Oedipus the King Look up and/or reflect on the meaning of: Tragedy: A tragedy is any event which causes great suffering and stress, such as the death of a loved one or a natural disaster. In the context of Greek literature, tragedy was the most popular form of theatre, with storytellers relying on the rhetorical technique of tragic irony to create emotionally resonant tales of lost love and territorial conquest. Philosophy: The
Human Beings Make Sense of Things In the early-1900s, Edmund Husserl sought to provide psychology with a truly scientific basis, not by copying the physical sciences but through the description of conscious experiences. This would be a truly humanistic psychology, grounded in human life and experience rather than materialistic and mechanistic theories like functionalism and behaviorism. Karl Jaspers called for a psychology that would describe phenomena such as "hallucinations, delusions,
As can be seen, all three of the above discussed authors contribute an essential point-of-view and approach to the question of the modern day fundamentalism and today's holy wars and crusades. Although each author takes a unique approach to the subject, it is impossible to say that one is right and another wrong. Instead, each author's approach adds to or supplements the other authors' theories and approaches. For example, whereas
This meant that people were no longer creating mythos, but taking the myths that had been developed earlier, with the understanding that religious myths were meant to be symbolic, as truth, rather than defining their own religious truths. Armstrong describes a very active process in prior religions. For example, she describes shamans seeing the world behind the one they see with their eyes, and spirit quests or journeys are
Speech Norman Podhoretz's "Is America Exceptional?" is a persuasive speech that hearkens to the emotional appeal of the American mythos. Podhoretz's audience is largely comprised of Americans, for whom the American mythos holds a great deal of sway. Therefore, Podhoretz's main strength is his emotional appeal and his ability to connect with the audience. He does so also by establishing credibility and ethos, referring a little to his personal background and
Creation Myth Analysis Case Study of the History of Biblical Creation Narratives What Is Myth? What Is History? Manetho Josephus Jeroboam Is Genesis 1:1-2:4 Myth? Is Genesis 1:1-2:4 History? Is Genesis 1:1-2:4 Both Myth and History? An Analysis of the Biblical Creation Narrative of Genesis 1:1-25 and Egypt's Possible Influence on the Historical Record God created the world in just six days, and rested on the seventh, but scholars have not rested at all over the millennia in their investigation of
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