MYTHICAL THOUGHT: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS, EXAMPLES - PHILOSOPHY - 2024

The mythical thought was the way through which the first settlers of the planet explained the different phenomena that happened. Generally, the protagonists of the stories typical of mythical thought were supernatural beings whose actions were unquestionable.

According to mythical thought, the gods and supernatural beings were responsible for every scenario that took place in reality; This is why they were considered extremely powerful entities.

Through mythical thought, supernatural explanations are given to certain phenomena. Source: pixabay.com

In essence, the main purpose of mythical thought was to give some order to reality as it appeared in ancient times. Through this thought a kind of cause and effect relationship was created that served so that human beings could position themselves and better understand their environment.

This type of thinking was characterized by being widely dogmatic. Through this, it was sought to give meaning to reality but it was not questioned: once conceived, it was taken as absolute truth.

Origin

Scene from Ancient Greece

Mythical thought arose from the need to understand the phenomena to which human beings were exposed.

This is an intrinsic characteristic of individuals; For this reason, in the first men and women this intention was appreciated to explain the reason for the phenomena, which were totally strange to the original humans.

One of the first concerns was to understand what was the origin of the human being, as well as the origin of the universe as such.

In this context, the first men conceived myths in which the protagonists were supernatural and very powerful beings; Since the causes of the phenomena were beyond the understanding of human beings, the most natural response was to ascribe these phenomena to these miraculous beings.

Sedentarism and society

When the first settlers began to become sedentary and formed more complex civilizations, mythical thinking was also very useful in explaining values ​​and behaviors that were associated with the specific tribe.

Thanks to the myths it was possible to structure an orderly society, and since these explanations were not questioned, they also meant a fairly efficient form of control, usually of the wealthy classes towards the most vulnerable.

According to various researchers, mythical thought was the point of origin from which philosophy was generated, as the first philosophers entered into such thought with a more rational approach, seeking explanations that had little to do with supernatural beings.

characteristics

Supernatural beings participate

The protagonists of stories related to mythical thought are always miraculous beings, with supernatural powers that have the power to do and undo according to their will and in many cases moved by whims.

As a consequence of this characteristic, some phenomena could not be predicted at all, which could generate total submission of the first inhabitants to their gods.

It is unquestionable

Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom

The mythical thought does not admit questions. Supernatural characters who participate in mythical events are above man's understanding and intelligence, so human beings can only accept phenomena as they are presented.

Not shown

This feature is related to the one explained above. As no questions are allowed, it is not necessary to demonstrate the truth or falsity of the events that make up mythical thought; they just happen.

Explain natural and social phenomena

Odin, Norse god

Through mythical thought, the original societies managed to explain both natural and social phenomena. The fact of being able to give mythical explanation to certain social processes allowed to generate an orderly structure within societies.

It can be stated that many of the values ​​that characterized the different civilizations came precisely from the mythical thought that they conceived in their beginnings.

Determine the essential characteristics of societies

Mythical thought served as the social and historical base of the native peoples. For them, the characteristics they had at a certain time were given by these phenomena that had been explained through mythical thought.

That is, the first human civilizations were considered the result of the myths that their oldest members conceived.

Examples

Mayan creation myth

Maya hero twins, known from the sacred book of the Maya, the Popol Vuh. Ornament taken from an ancient Mayan pottery.

The story related to the rise of the Mayans is narrated in the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of this civilization. According to this story, a group of supernatural beings decided to create the human being; however, they had several failed attempts.

The gods were only successful when they used white and yellow corn: from these elements they conceived a human being capable of speaking. This story explains why corn was such a valuable element to the Mayans.

Colombian myth of the creation of humans, the sun and the moon

According to the Colombian worldview - specifically, that of the Chibcha civilization - the gods Ráquira and Ramiriquí lived alone in a space full of natural beauties. On one occasion they considered creating human beings through mud and reeds: with mud they created man and with reeds the woman.

After seeing that the first specimens were successful, the gods created more and more human beings; Thanks to this they managed to inhabit the entire Chibcha empire.

Differences with philosophical thought

Philosophical thought is completely different from mythical thought; However, they are closely related, since the starting point for philosophical thought was precisely mythical thought.

The first philosophers - who did not consider themselves as such because philosophy as a discipline had not yet been born - began to study carefully the myths that were predetermined in their cultures, but the difference was in the focus of their approach: it was a purely rational focus.

So, it can be said that the main difference between philosophical and mythical thought is that the former is based on supernatural explanations, while the latter focuses its efforts on understanding phenomena based on a rational and objective vision.

Furthermore, philosophical thought is constantly questioned. Each new rational argument is considered to enrich and strengthen thought.

On the other hand, in mythical thought the argumentation or the demonstration of what is stated is not conceived. These are closed explanations that do not admit questions or refutations.

References

1. "The myth of the creation of the Mayans" in Living Mayan time. Retrieved on November 12, 2019 from Living Mayan Time: maya.nmai.si.edu
2. "Myths of the creation of humans, the sun and the moon" at Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute. Retrieved on November 12, 2019 from the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute: Humboldt.org.co
3. Rojo, A. "From mythical thought to scientific thought" in Minor Words. Retrieved on November 12, 2019 from Minor words: wordsmenores.info
4. "Pre-philosophical thought" in Wikipedia. Retrieved on November 12, 2019 from Wikipedia: wikipedia.org
5. De Castro, S. "The" passage from myth to logos ": birth of Philosophy, Eurocentrism and genocide" in El Salto. Retrieved on November 12, 2019 from El Salto: elsaltodiario.com
6. "What is Mythical Thinking" at IGI Global. Retrieved on November 12, 2019 from IGI Global: igi-global.com
7. Goebs, K. "Myth, Metaphor, Mythical Thinking - Functions and Uses of Mythical and Divine Metaphor in Ancient Egypt" at University of Toronto. Retrieved on November 12, 2019 from University of Toronto: nmc.utoronto.ca