Before you start reading...

Hello and welcome to the blog post discussing "Philosophy and myth". This is an introduction or a pre-chaper to "Philosophy and religion" topic, which you can find here. When you read this, please keep in mind that I have translated this through Google Translate from Serbian (because I always originally prepare blog posts in Serbian), and please feel free to fill me in if I've missed anything or wrote something wrong, I'd appreciate if you'd write a comment down below! So, without further ado, enjoy reading!

Definition of myth

A myth is usually a traditional story about supposedly historical events that serves to develop a people's worldview and explain a certain practice, belief or natural phenomenon. Myth is an early form of religion, so the first explanations of reality were mythical. These explanations are not based on arguments, but on poetic images, so myth is also defined as an attempt by poets of early civilizations to explain the world that surrounded them.

The relationship between philosophy and myth

The goal of myth and philosophy is related - explanation of origin, interpretation of meaning, explanation of truth. Both point to speech and experience, because myth explains phenomena with metaphors and allegories (speech), and philosophy logically deduces based on arguments (speech) and experience, while mythical metaphors are also based on experience.

The difference between myth and philosophy is the presence of explanation: philosophy insists on logical derivation, while myth relies on metaphors and allegories. Although both indicate speech, both have different types of speech.

Example:
A poet who writes myths observes natural phenomena and gives an interpretation. A scientist is engaged in the same activity. There is a significant difference in that a poet indulges his imagination, and a scientist uses scientific methods.