Abstract
Abstract
There is a clear-cut divide between nineteenth-and twentieth-century theories of myth. In the nineteenth century myth was taken to be the 'primitive' counterpart to science, which was assumed to be entirely modern. Myth originated and functioned to do for primitive peoples what science now did for moderns: account for all events in the physical world. One could not consistently hold both kinds of explanations, and moderns, who were defined as scientific, were logically obliged to abandon myth. The rise of science thus spelled the death of myth.
There is a clear-cut divide between nineteenth-and twentieth-century theories of myth. In the nineteenth century myth was taken to be the 'primitive' counterpart to science, which was assumed to be entirely modern. Myth originated and functioned to do for primitive peoples what science now did for moderns: account for all events in the physical world. One could not consistently hold both kinds of explanations, and moderns, who were defined as scientific, were logically obliged to abandon myth. The rise of science thus spelled the death of myth.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Dreaming the Myth Onwards |
| Subtitle of host publication | New Directions in Jungian Therapy and Thought |
| Editors | Lucy Huskinson |
| Publisher | Routledge Taylor & Francis Group |
| Pages | 91-105 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781134071449 |
| ISBN (Print) | 0203938283, 9780203938287 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Jan 2008 |