Cosler - The Social Utility of the Myth

We discussed in class how myths can been seen as being prior to, or necessary for, true statements about the world. A key heuristic to understanding this concept, for me, was to think of myths as performing an exploratory function, instead of an explanatory one. The myth then becomes the contextualizing framework through which we can form beliefs and intentions about the world. Myths provide the semantic ground for our beliefs because they are the semantic ground that builds order out of chaos and allows our intentional attitudes to stick to the world in a meaningful way.

It seems to me that the key mechanism by which myth can perform this role is by allowing an individual to universalize her personal experiences and see in them a pattern or principle that she can then apply to the world. In this way the myth is the primary mode of communication between individuals of a culture: its narrative significance in a culture is what enables persons to relate to one another's particular experiences through the shared knowledge of universal principles. I am interested in exploring this concept further as we progress through the semester.

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