Author: Robert Ellwood Publisher: State University of New York Press ISBN: 1438402023 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 232
Book Description
The Politics of Myth examines the political views implicit in the mythological theories of three of the most widely read popularizers of myth in the twentieth century, C. G. Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Joseph Campbell. All three had intellectual roots in the anti-modern pessimism and romanticism that also helped give rise to European fascism, and all three have been accused of fascist and anti-Semitic sentiments. At the same time, they themselves tended toward individualistic views of the power of myth, believing that the world of ancient myth contained resources that could be of immense help to people baffled by the ambiguities and superficiality of modern life. Robert Ellwood details the life and thought of each mythologist and the intellectual and spiritual worlds within which they worked. He reviews the damaging charges that have been made about their politics, taking them seriously while endeavoring to put them in the context of the individual's entire career and lifetime contribution. Above all, he seeks to extract from their published work the view of the political world that seems most congruent with it.
Author: Chiara Bottici Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1139466798 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
In this book, originally published in 2007, Chiara Bottici argues for a philosophical understanding of political myth. Bottici demonstrates that myth is a process, one of continuous work on a basic narrative pattern that responds to a need for significance. Human beings need meaning in order to master the world they live in, but they also need significance in order to live in a world that is less indifferent to them. This is particularly true in the realm of politics. Political myths are narratives through which we orient ourselves, and act and feel about our political world. Bottici shows that in order to come to terms with contemporary phenomena, such as the clash between civilizations, we need a Copernican revolution in political philosophy. If we want to save reason, we need to look at it from the standpoint of myth.
Author: Christopher Flood Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1135347956 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 326
Book Description
First Published in 2002. Myth theorists characterize myths as stories that possess the status of sacred truth within one or more social groups. Flood discusses how political myth is an ideologically marked narrative that purports to give a true account of a set of past, present, or predicted political events, widely accepted as valid in its essentials. Among the topics explored are: the historical line of political myth in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Western political discourse; the characteristics of political myths and the forms they take in political life and the ends they serve; and the features of political ideologies that are most useful for understanding the nature of political myth.
Author: Robert Ellwood Publisher: SUNY Press ISBN: 9780791443057 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 250
Book Description
At the same time, they themselves tended toward individualistic views of the power of myth, believing that the world of ancient myth contained resources that could be of immense help to people baffled by the ambiguities and superficiality of modern life."--BOOK JACKET.
Author: Ryan P. Burge Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers ISBN: 1506482015 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 262
Book Description
The way most people think about religion and politics is only loosely linked to empirical reality, argues Ryan P. Burge. In 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America, Burge strives to be an impartial referee and to overcome these caustic misperceptions by using both rigorous data analysis and straightforward explanations.
Author: David Sehat Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0199793115 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 368
Book Description
In the battles over religion and politics in America, both liberals and conservatives often appeal to history. Liberals claim that the Founders separated church and state. But for much of American history, David Sehat writes, Protestant Christianity was intimately intertwined with the state. Yet the past was not the Christian utopia that conservatives imagine either. Instead, a Protestant moral establishment prevailed, using government power to punish free thinkers and religious dissidents. In The Myth of American Religious Freedom, Sehat provides an eye-opening history of religion in public life, overturning our most cherished myths. Originally, the First Amendment applied only to the federal government, which had limited authority. The Protestant moral establishment ruled on the state level. Using moral laws to uphold religious power, religious partisans enforced a moral and religious orthodoxy against Catholics, Jews, Mormons, agnostics, and others. Not until 1940 did the U.S. Supreme Court extend the First Amendment to the states. As the Supreme Court began to dismantle the connections between religion and government, Sehat argues, religious conservatives mobilized to maintain their power and began the culture wars of the last fifty years. To trace the rise and fall of this Protestant establishment, Sehat focuses on a series of dissenters--abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, socialist Eugene V. Debs, and many others. Shattering myths held by both the left and right, David Sehat forces us to rethink some of our most deeply held beliefs. By showing the bad history used on both sides, he denies partisans a safe refuge with the Founders.
Author: Roland Boer Publisher: Duke University Press Books ISBN: Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
A scholar of biblical studies and cultural theory develops a political myth for the Left based on foundational stories in the Bibles first six books, from Genesis through Joshua.
Author: Robert Alan Segal Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 0198724705 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 161
Book Description
This Very Short Introduction explores different approaches to myth from several disciplines, including science, religion, philosophy, literature, and psychology. In this new edition, Robert Segal considers both the future study of myth as well as the impact of areas such as cognitive science and the latest approaches to narrative theory.
Author: Matthew Hindman Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 0691138680 Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 199
Book Description
Matthew Hindman reveals here that, contrary to popular belief, the Internet has done little to broaden political discourse in the United States, but rather that it empowers a small set of elites - some new, but most familiar.
Author: Mario Liverani Publisher: Cornell University Press ISBN: 9780801473586 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 234
Book Description
The essays included in this volume analyze important historical texts from various regions of the Ancient Near East. The distinguished Italian historian Mario Liverani suggests that these historiographical texts were of a "true" historical nature and that their literary forms achieved their intended results. Liverani focuses on two central themes in these texts: myth and politics.There is a close connection, Liverani finds, between the writing of history and the validation of political order and political action. History defines the correct role and behavior of political leaders, especially when they do not possess the validation provided by tradition. Historical texts, he discovers, are more often the tools for supporting change than for supporting stability.Liverani demonstrates that history writing in the Ancient Near East made frequent use of mythical patterns, wisdom motifs, and literary themes in order to fulfill its audience's cultural expectations. The resulting nonhistorical literary forms can mislead interpretation, but an analysis of these forms allows the texts' sociopolitical and communicative frameworks to emerge.
Author: Robert Ellwood
Author: Chiara Bottici
Author: Christopher Flood
Author: Robert Ellwood
Author: Ryan P. Burge
Author: David Sehat
Author: Roland Boer
Author: Robert Alan Segal
Author: Matthew Hindman
Author: Mario Liverani