A myth is, of course, not a fairy story. It is the presentation of facts belonging to one category in the idioms appropriate to another. To explode a myth is accordingly not to deny the facts but to re-allocate them.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Myths reorganize facts using different cultural language.
- In plain terms
- Myths use different words to tell facts.
- What can you take from it?
- Understanding myths requires seeing the facts behind them.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where does fact end and myth begin?
- How do myths help us?
Another view
Not all myths contain recognizable facts.
More from Gilbert Ryle
The dogma of the Ghost in the machine.
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