PHILOSOPHY

FROM MYTH TO LOGOS.

MYTHS

CHARACTERISTICS OF MYTHS
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Understanding the totality of reality Symbolic language: expressiveness Influence on social life : establish the rules of society, reinforce morals.

Exercise 1.
SEARCH FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING MYTHS : Orpheus and Eurydice. Prometheus. Phaeton and the chariot of Helios. Phersefone and Demeter. The origin of the Milky Way. The Judgement of Paris. Ulises and the mermaid.

ORIGIN AND BASIS.

Myths have their origin in the emotional and imaginative activity of humans. The explanations are based on supernatural element (the magic mountain, the holy tree).

THREE STAGES OF MYTHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION

1. ANIMISM: All things have a soul. 2. POLYTHEISM: The gods rule the world. 3. MONOTHEISM: All natural phenomena depend on the will of one god almighty

THE MEDITERRANEAN

Exercise 2.
2.1. LOCATE THE THREE STRATEGIC PLACES IN ORDER TO DOMINATE THE MEDITERRANEAN.
2.2. LOCATE ON THE MAP THE FOLLOWING CITIES: Ephesus, Miletus, Pergamum.

IONIA, VI CENTURY BC

CROSSROADS BETWEEN TWO CONTINENTS

IMPORTANT MARITIME TRADE:

HIGH ECONOMIC GROWTH

THE BIRTH OF PHILOSOPHY

PRECONDITIONS: While Greece was destroyed by the Dorian invasion, Ionia kept the spirit of Greek culture

EPHESUS

MYRA

MYTHS AND LOGOS

MYTHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE

RATIONAL KNOWLEDGE uses the reason is subjected to comparation

uses the imagination is based on tradition

Supernatural Arbitrariness
Symbolic Explanation of the totality

Natural Need, regularity, causality

Realistic Explanation of the totality

THE BIRTH OF PHILOSOPHY:

INVOLVES A THREEFOLD PROCESS :

SECULARISATION DEMOCRATISATION CRITICISM

SECULARIZATION

Statements are based on natural principles and procedures It is not based on supernatural powers.

DEMOCRATISATION
THERE ARE THREE BASIC RULES:

ISONOMIA ISOCRATIA ISEGORIA.

EXERCISE 3: RESERCH THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ANCIENT GREEK DEMOCRACY.

CRITICISM
A new way of thinking began to emerge from: Cultural clashes led to overcome ethnocentrism. New discoveries in medicine and mathematics: induction and deduction.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY

Rational knowledge:. Is based only on natural elements and processes

Explanation of universal reality. Philosophy tries to explain all aspects of reality. It is a second degree of knowledge: it is based on previous knowledge. Critical rationality: appears before the clash of myths and cultures.

Universal rationality, has the ability to replace myths. Its based on reason something that everyone owns, not on local traditions (myths).

DOGMAS OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY:

The world has always existed (it is eternal). The world is diverse and unique. The world is comprehensible. The world is a cosmos (an orderly whole).

EXERCISE 4
VOCABULARY :

Philosophy, Ethnocentrism, Criticism, Myths, secularisation, logos, cosmos, supernatural, arbitrariness, animism, isonomia, isocratia, isegoria, cultural clashes, induction, deduction.

TO REVIEW.

Features of myths. Give an example of how the myths justify and reinforce morals and social rules. Why is Ionia such a special place? Why can the myths not provide a good enough explanation? Which triple procedure has influenced the beginnings of philosophy? Explain the meaning of isonoma, isocrata e isegora. Who were citizens in Ancient Greece? How was Ionia able to overcome cultural prejudices? What was the significance of the new discoveries in medicine and mathematics? Why is reason able to replace myths as universal knowledge? Characteristics of greek philosophy. What does philosophy means as knowledge of second degree? Explain any dogma of Greek philosophy