Myth and modernity : postcritical reflections / Milton Scarborough.

Author/creator Scarborough, Milton, 1940-
Format Book
Publication InfoAlbany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, ©1994.
Descriptionxiii, 152 pages ; 23 cm.
Supplemental ContentTable of contents
Subjects
Myth.
Civilization, Modern--20th century.

SeriesSUNY series, the margins of literature
SUNY series, the margins of literature. ^A279137
Contents Ch. 1. Modernity and the Crisis of Myth -- Ch. 2. Modernity on Myth. The Nature of Modernity. Modernity and Myth. Max Mueller: Myth as Explanation for Aryan Metaphors. The English Anthropologists: Myth as Animism, Totemism, and Magic. Bronislaw Malinowski: Myth as Social Charter. C.S. Lewis: Myth as Fable and Fact. Ernst Cassirer: Myth as an Organ of Self-Revelation. Claude Levi-Strauss: Myth as Mediator between Culture and Nature. Rudolf Bultmann: Myths as Possibilities for Human Existence. Sigmund Freud: Myth as Repressed Libido. Carl Jung: Myth as Archtypal Meaning. Problems with Modern Myth Theories -- Ch. 3. Myth at the Margins of Modernity. Myth at the Margins of Modern thought. Mircea Eliade: Myths as Collective Participation in Common Symbols. Taylor Stevenson: History as Myth. Michael Novak: Myths as Guiding Images, Symbols, and Values. Myth at the Margins of Scientific Thought. Harvey Cox: Genesis as the Disenchantment of Nature. Stephen Toulmin: Myth as the Misuse of Scientific Results.
Contents Michael Foster: Myths as Determinants of Scientific Method. Langdon Gilkey: Myths as Multivalent Symbols of the Transcendent. Edward Maziarz: Myth and Science as Formal Symbolic Structures -- Ch. 4. Myth in the Heart of Modernity. The Timaeus. Genesis. Timaeus versus Genesis. Big Bang versus Steady State Cosmology. Essentialism versus Existentialism: Anthropology. Phenomenology versus History of Religions: Methodology. Covering Law versus Continuous Series Explanations: The Logic of Scientific Explanation. Myth versus History in Barthes' Structural Linguistics. The Tacit Dimension. Timaeus versus Genesis in Historical Perspective -- Ch. 5. Toward a Postcritical Understanding of Myth. Contemporary Physics and Cartesian Dualism. The Wave-Particle Dualism and Scientific Representation. The Uncertainty Principle. Goedel's Proof. The Phenomenological Turn. The Nature of Myth. Myth and Truth. The Truth of Myth in General. The Truth of the Timaeus and Genesis -- Ch. 6. Epilogue. The Visual Imagination.
Contents Naming the Nomad.
Review "This book surveys selected modern theories of myth from philosophy, religion, anthropology, sociology, and psychoanalysis to demonstrate a common commitment to a dualistic ontology and/or epistemology. With help from the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Michael Polanyi, the author proposes a new theory of myth that goes beyond these dualisms. It argues that although the Enlightenment sought to banish myth, it was itself animated by myths that it could neither recognize nor accredit. Moreover, it argues that myth is a primordial, articulate grasp of the lifeworld and is essential for providing a fundamental orientation to all human activities, including theorizing. The myths of Timaeus and Genesis are shown tacitly to shape modernity's most sophisticated theories in science and philosophy, including the criteria for truth."--Jacket.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 135-144) and index.
LCCN 93017790
ISBN0791418790 (alk. paper)
ISBN9780791418796 (alk. paper)
ISBN0791418804 (pbk. ; alk. paper)
ISBN9780791418802 (pbk. ; alk. paper)

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner General Stacks BL313 .S329 1994 ✔ Available Place Hold