Mito vs. Logos: Filosofía en Grecia

MITO VS. LOGOS

• Mito:

  • Pre-racional, using amulets and fantastic narratives.
  • Explanations are imaginative, based on symbols and anthropomorphic figures.
  • Arbitrary; everything depends on the will of the gods.
  • Destiny is presented as forces personifying nature.
  • Collective and traditional.

• Logos:

  • Rational, using order, reason, and language.
  • Explanations are rational and verifiable.
  • Necessary; it seeks natural causes and laws.
  • Explicable phenomena are regular, causal, and critically examined.
  • Personal and individual knowledge.

WHY MYTHS DO NOT ALLOW SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION

• Lack of rationality and criticism.
• Reliance on arbitrary beliefs, based on the divine rather than reality.
• Symbolic and imaginative character.

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE RISE OF PHILOSOPHY IN 6TH CENTURY BC GREECE

• Causes:

  • Breaking with myth: Seeking explanations based on reason instead of arbitrary beliefs.
  • Social factors: The polis as a space for dialogue and debate.
  • Cultural factors: Influence of traditions and knowledge from other cultures through commerce.
  • Historical factors: Progress in writing and systematic thought.

• Consequences:

  • Birth of critical and rational thought.
  • Development of anti-mythological positions.
  • Beginning of philosophical disciplines: ethics, physics, metaphysics.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PHILOSOPHY

• Tool for reasoning and argumentation: Promotes critical thinking.

• School of freedom: Rejection of dogma, questioning of knowledge.

• Practical dimension: Helps change the world.

• Search for radical truth: Driven by admiration.

• Rational and systematic method: Organized approach to problems.

• Additional characteristics:

  • Poses universal questions about God, humanity and the world.
  • Rational, critical, and reflective knowledge.
  • It is beneficial, if not essential.
  • Seeks happiness (individual and social).
  • Bridges science and religion.

CURRENT FUNCTIONS OF PHILOSOPHY

• Criticisms: Analysis of beliefs and values.
• Epistemological: Reflection on knowledge and the methods of science.
• Practical: Guidance for ethical and political decisions.
• Transformative: Helps improve and transform the world.

PHILOSOPHICAL DISCIPLINES

• Metaphysics (Ontology):

  • Definition: Studies being and its properties. Everything that exists.
  • Subfields: Ontology, Theodicy.
  • Object of Study: What is real? What is its cause?

• Epistemology/Gnosology:

  • Definition: Theory of knowledge, considering its limits.
  • Subfields: Philosophy of Science.
  • Object of Study: What can I know? Under what conditions?

• Logic:

  • Definition: Addresses the structure, construction, and correction of reasoning.
  • Subfields: Philosophy of Language.
  • Object of Study: What's the correct way to think? What can be said coherently

• Philosophy of Human Nature:

  • Subfields:
    • Ethics: Reflects on moral norms and the construction of a universal morality.
    • Aesthetics: Reflection on beauty and art.
    • Political philosophy: Reflection on the relationship between individuals and their social organization.
    • Philosophy of law: Reflection on justice and legal norms.

HISTORICAL PERIODS OF PHILOSOPHY

• Metaphysical period (6th century BC - 14th century AD): Study of physical reality and humanity, seeking a fundamental principle for explaining the order that exists. Includes cosmological and anthropological phases.

• Epistemological period (15th-18th centuries): Reflection on human knowledge. Includes rationalism, empiricism, and transcendental idealism.

• Humanistic period (19th-21st centuries): Focus on humanity, its capacity to act and transform the world. Emphasizes ethics, sentiment, and relationship with society.