Human measure and natural fecundity: Mythos and logos in the past and future of the humanities

Abstract

The beginnings of social forms are shrouded in, and justified by, myths which establish both the manifest content of stories and religion. The replacement of myth by logic is never total and the role of logic depends upon the mythic origin that it partially replaces. The form of heritage is constituted in large part by the manner in which intertwining between mythos and logos is structured. Taking the measure of humanitas today means noting, not only the internal articulation of a heritage but those elements of a given heritage which resonate with other heritages. The proximity of Socrates and Protagoras, in Plato's dialogue of the same name, allows us to glimpse a possibility not visible in any other confrontation between Socrates and the sophists: a unity of philosophy and rhetoric in the constitution and heritage of humanism. George Lukács' late, unfinished work, The Ontology of Social Labour, aimed to establish an ontological foundation for the relation between science and religion. In this way, the ontology of labour introduces a new twist into the relation between mythos and logos. One critical comment about Lukács' ontology of labour pertinent to the relation between mythos and logos is that the experience of nature in labour may be more affirmative than the trajectory of classical Marxism allows. The productivity of labour, which increases with social organization and division of labour, is based upon natural fecundity. A human being lives a necessary paradox of seeing human excellence and good in distinction from nature and as part of the nature that surpasses it. The humanities are charged with investigating this paradox in all its forms. Even while inhabiting a given tradition, the mythos/logos complexes of other societies may be approached, listened to, and even understood.