Understanding Myth, Logos, and Knowledge Types
- Myth: Comes from the Greek word *mithos*, whose meaning is narrative. It fulfills both an explanatory function and an exemplary role. Myths involve imagination and beliefs. The narration of myths is vital, and it is intended, first, to appease or propitiate the gods’ superhuman action. In myths, the world seems chaotic; nature behaves randomly according to the will of the gods.
- Logos: Explains things through reason and critical thinking. Logos is the Reason that dominates the universe and makes possible the existence of order and regularity in the succession of things. It is also something within us and must serve as a guide for our conduct and as a tool for knowledge.
- Vulgar Knowledge: Shows us how things are and their effects. It is a superficial knowledge, not reflective, of common sense mixed with prejudice. It is useful for everyday life.
- Scientific Knowledge: Seeks the immediate cause of things; it is deep and specialized knowledge. It is rational knowledge, providing evidence and experiments. It is useful for understanding and controlling nature.
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Philosophical Knowledge: Seeks to find out the ultimate causes of everything. It is not partial knowledge but universal. It is rational knowledge, providing evidence and experiments. It is useful for knowing the first or ultimate causes of reality.
It is reflexive because it approaches reality and truth through our rational capacities.
- It is open knowledge, as many of its proposals are open and not definitive.
It is rational knowledge because it seeks answers that adapt to human understanding.
It is global knowledge, inclusive and unified. This is because philosophy aims to explain the totality of all beings from their deepest and most fundamental principles.
It is radical knowledge because it approaches the most essential issues, such as the meaning of human existence and freedom, the problem of good and evil, and so on.
It is practical knowledge, guiding human action. It manifests itself in ethical philosophy and political philosophy.
- It is systematic knowledge because it orders the different fields of reality and human experience.
It is critical knowledge and analysis because it reflects the mentality of an era. Therefore, it shows a rejection of dogmatism, of the truths and beliefs that society imposes.
Branches of Philosophy:
- Metaphysics: Studies reality and the properties of everything that is or exists.
- Logic: Deals with arguments expressed linguistically and studies their structure, form, and correctness to reach certainty of their validity.
- Epistemology: Looks at the origins, validity, and limits of knowledge.
- Anthropology: Looks at human beings from the perspectives of biology, social sciences, culture, or humanities.
- Ethics: Studies and examines moral codes and standards, their rationale, validity, and universality.
- Aesthetics: Analyzes the nature of beauty and artistic creations.
- Politics: Deals with aspects of the human community, such as social origin, forms of government, power, etc.
Fixity: Maintains that species and genera are fixed; that is, they have not changed and will not change. The conclusions reached by Aristotle were:
- Species are eternal, unchanging, and unchanged from generation to generation.
- Biology is only interested in species, not individuals.
- The shape of organs is always linked to their functions.
Creationism was later added to this fixist concept of Aristotle. According to this theory, God created the species; being divine, they would be perfect and would not need to change or improve anything.
Anthropocentrism is another key theory in the fixist design. This is a typical view of philosophy after the Middle Ages. Anthropocentrism considers man at the center of creation, being the most important. In addition, the human being is the element from which all others are measured. The influence of Genesis, which tells how the world was created for us, was crucial.