Humanities include disciplines like history, archaeology, sociology, anthropology, political science,
economics, etc. To understand the history of the origin and development of these disciplines is an essential
part of their learning. All disciplines are supposed to have their origin in philosophy. Ancient people all
over the world tried to speculate in order to understand the relationship between the universe and human
existence. It gave rise to various mythological stories about the origin of this world, the universal order,
human life, gods and goddesses, rituals and their philosophical explanations. Roots of philosophical
ponderings are to be found in these mythological stories. Various disciplines under humanities have
theoretical foundations based on philosophical theories. Only historical knowledge can help us in
understanding these developmental stages.
Questions:
1 Why is it said that, “Roots of philosophical ponderings are to be found in the mythological stories”?
Answers
Answer:
I would like to briefly contribute an answer here that I believe is the reason why we still have and never will escape mythology (and folklore, and for that matter religion). I present you with two quotes that I found beautifully and well formulated (courtesy of Ed Kramer and Neil Gaiman):
"We need gods - Thor or Zeus or Krishna or Jesus or, well God - not so much to worship or sacrifice to, but because they satisfy our need - distinctive from that of all the other animals - to imagine a meaning, a sense to our lives, to satisfy our hunger to believe that the muck and chaos of daily existence does, after all, tend somewhere. It's the origin of religion, and also of storytelling - or aren't they both the same thing? As Voltaire said of God: if he did not exist, it would have been necessary to invent him."
"There are only two worlds - your world, which is the real world, and other worlds, the fantasy. Worlds like this are worlds of the human imagination: their reality, or lack of reality, is not important. What is important is that they are there. These worlds provide an alternative. Provide an escape. Provide a threat. Provide a dream, and power; provide refuge, and pain. They give your world meaning."
Explanation: