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Module 10: Dualities – keeping them dynamic, complementary and in and out of balance
Module description:
We live so much in a world of dualities, accepting that other forms such as the triadic also play a strong part in out structural understanding. Once we stop considering the whole (or Whole) we inevitably are confronted with at least two forms and forces. Ancient forms of this bifurcation include yin and yang and logos and mythos.
In the discourse between teacher and taught s/he can as the manager of the three voices of I, WE and IT – as variables of communication style
This module, in relation to a working definition of the process of holistic development, looks at the nature of, and use of, the idea of ‘keeping dualities dynamic, complementary and in and out of balance‘ by the teacher, or other practitioner – so as to encourage and manage learning, professional development and/or personal growth.
MYTHOS and LOGOS
In her review of Creationism by Michael Ruse, written for the New Scientist (2005) Karen Armstrong provides a summary of her view of mythos and logos.
In the pre-modern world, it was generally understood that there were two ways of arriving at truth. Plato called them mythos and logos. Neither was superior to the other. Logos (reason; science) was exact, practical and essential to human life. To be effective, it had to correspond to external reality. Myth expressed the more elusive, puzzling aspects of human experience. It has often been called a primitive form of psychology, which helped people negotiate their inner world…
Myth could not help you create efficient technology or run your society. But logos had its limits too. If you became a refugee or witnessed a terrible natural catastrophe, you did not simply want a logical explanation; you also wanted myth to show you how to manage your grief. With the advent of our scientific modernity, however, logos achieved such spectacular results that myth was discredited, and now, in popular parlance a myth is something that did not happen, that is untrue. But some religious people also began to read religious myths as though they were logos.
The conflict between science and faith has thus been based on a misunderstanding of the nature of scriptural discourse. Many people, including those who are religious, find it difficult to think mythically, because our education and society is fuelled entirely by logos. This has made religion impossible for many people in the west, and it could be argued that much of the stridency of Christian fundamentalism is based on a buried fear of creeping unbelief.
In the pre-modern world, it was considered dangerous to mix mythos and logos, because each had a different sphere of competence. Much of the heat could be taken out of the evolution versus creation struggle if it were admitted that to read the first chapter of Genesis as though it were an exact account of the origins of life is not only bad science; it is also bad religion.
Two important books
Karen Armstrong’s A Short History of Myth
Mary Midgley’s The Myths We Live By
‘Mary Midgley argues in …… that far from being the opposite of science, myth is a central part of it. In brilliant prose, she claims that myths are neither lies nor mere stories but a network of powerful symbols that suggest particular ways of interpreting the world.’
However………………………………………….
Mythos definitions
Literary
Myth:
A narrative in which some characters are superhuman beings who do things that “happen only in stories”; hence, a conventionalized or stylized narrative not fully adapted to plausibility or “realism.”
Mythos
1. The narrative of a work of literature, considered as the grammar or order of words (literal narrative), plot or “argument” (descriptive narrative), secondary imitation of action (formal narrative), imitation of generic and recurrent action or ritual (archetypal narrative), or imitation of the total conceivable action of an omnipotent god or human society (anagogic narrative).
2. One of the four archetypal narratives, classified as comic, romantic, tragic, and ironic.
Mythos
A Greek word, referring to the spoken word or speech. It also denotes a tale, story or narrative, different from the historic tale which is called logos and is regarded as verifiable. The narrated events which form a mythic tale are not normally verifiable, their origin is nearly always unknown, and yet they have a claim to truth, which the purely fictitious narrative, for example a novel, lacks.
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-terms/bl-lit-glossary-m.htm
RP I agree with ‘they have a claim to truth’ but would also say that novels, and art generally have similar claims.
· The narrative of a work of literature, considered as the grammar or order of words (literal narrative), plot or “argument” (descriptive narrative), secondary imitation of action (formal narrative), imitation of generic and recurrent action or ritual (archetypal narrative), or imitation of the total conceivable action of an omnipotent god or human society (anagogic narrative). One of the four archetypal narratives, classified as comic, romantic, tragic, and ironic.
http://www.sil.org/~radneyr/humanities/litcrit/gloss.htm
· anything delivered by word of mouth, word, speech, conversation, story, tale (esp. poetic tale). logos = thought, reason, word, language, “study of.” Mythology = the study of tales/stories
http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/gretaham/Teaching/reference/greekterms.htm
· A (fictional) history relevant to a particular character, group, or world. For example, in the current Wonder Woman mythos, several Greek goddesses are responsible for the creation of the Amazons.
http://www.sufferingsappho.com/pbg/glossary.html
· A Greek word, referring to the spoken word or speech. It also denotes a tale, story or narrative, different from the historic tale which is called logos and is regarded as verifiable. The narrated events which form a mythic tale are not normally verifiable, their origin is nearly always unknown, and yet they have a claim to truth, which the purely fictitious narrative, for example a novel, lacks.
classiclit.about.com/library/bl-terms/bl-lit-glossary-m.htm
· the story; see praxis and plot.
filmplus.org/thr/dic4.html
· Mythos (Μύθος) is a Greek beer, the only domestic brand in widespread national distribution. It is a light straw-colored lager with a thick head, and is sometimes compared to a pilsner in taste. The brand was introduced in 1997 by Mythos Brewery Ltd., which also imports other European brands of beer.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythos_(beer)
TASK: In addition to mythos and logos there are many other relevant dualities – make your own list of those dualities (opposites and/or complementaries) that you think need balancing in your professional practice.
Introductory reading/s to get started:
http://mythosandlogos.com/mythandmetaphor.html
http://www.infed.org/biblio/friendship.htm
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/palmer.htm
A sense of the field can be obtained from Roger Stack’s ‘Map’ of Holistic Education see also his blog
