Myth vs. Philosophy: Understanding Reality and Existence

Myth vs. Philosophy: Understanding Reality

1. Mythical Conception of Reality: It encompasses a way of conceiving reality, understanding knowledge about reality, and a way of behaving. The mythical conception (CM) of the ancient Greeks saw man as obedient to the whims of natural forces that threatened his existence. Reality was divided into:

• Divine Sphere: Immortal gods.
• The Wild: Nature, a chaotic force responsible for the processes of production and destruction. Sacred power resided in every force of nature, ruled by its god.

Myths: Anonymous accounts that crystallize the collective memory of a culture. They are ethnocentric and tell stories of gods, demigods, or heroes.

• Irrational: The account can be believed or not; the meaning of the myth is encoded by tradition.
• Standards: Provides the set of values and norms that should govern the community, timeless and rooted in tradition.
• Legitimizes or delegitimizes the existing social order based on adherence to the myth's guidelines.
• Sets the sense of existence for human beings.

2. Philosophical Conception of Reality: The power of nature is orderly; there is something in it that always stays.

• Nature as a whole survives the disappearance of natural things, with the emergence of new ones.
• The law of production and destruction of natural things remains.
• The types of essences produced and destroyed remain; some types of things keep their characteristics over time (the essence, all typical features of a type of thing).
• The individual stays through their transformations, remaining unchanged throughout his life.

The Nature of Philosophy

Philosophy is:

• Wise, providing relevant reasons that we can discuss. It is historical knowledge, since circumstances may challenge the future of the past. The argument must be logically consistent.
• Universal, reflecting on the whole of reality, starting to understand it with valid arguments for all.
• Radical and final, offering an explanation beyond which you cannot go, because it explains things at the root.
• Profane, not denying the gods, but approaching them with a desire for rational understanding.
• Legislation, explaining how to live individually and collectively.