title: Why are myths true: Plato on the veracity of myths
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Deretic, Irina
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.accessioned
metadata.value: 2020-11-20T17:48:21Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.available
metadata.value: 2020-11-20T17:48:21Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.issued
metadata.value: 2020-09
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.citation
metadata.value: Deretic I. Why are myths true: Plato on the veracity of myths. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies, 2020, vol. 36, issue 3, pp. 441–451.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.identifier.other
metadata.value: https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2020.302
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.uri
metadata.value: http://hdl.handle.net/11701/20809
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.description.abstract
metadata.value: Distinguishing myths in terms of their veracity had almost been neglected in Plato’s studies. In
  this article, the author focuses on Plato’s controversial claims about the truth-status of myths. An
  attempt is made to elucidate what he really had in mind when assessing the veracity of myths.
  The author claims that Plato, while discussing the epistemic status of myths,  actually distinguished three kinds of myths in regard to what they narrate. Additionally, it is argued that he
  endorses three different kinds of truth value for myths: they can be either true or false, probable,
  or factually false but conveying some valuable truths. In the Republic II and III, Plato implicitly
  distinguishes the truth value of theological myths from the truth value of aetiological and normative ones, each of which are explained in detail in the article. In Plato’s view, the theological
  myths can be either true or false, because he determines the divine nature a priori. When ascribing the probable character to myths, Plato has in mind mostly aetiological myths. Given that we
  are unable to establish the truths on the origins and development of many phenomena, because
  they originated in the remote past, what we can do is to reconstruct plausible and consistent
  myths of these phenomena, which, among others, might contain the arguments and even proofs,
  such as the proof of the cosmic destruction in Plato’s own myth in the Politicus. In the third case,
  when Plato says that myths are lies, yet containing some truth, he had in mind myths which
  might be the product of our imagination like eschatological myths, for example. Being a kind of
  fiction, they are false, in the sense they do not correspond to any real state of affairs. Since they
  convey profound ethical norms or religious insights, they can be regarded as true.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.description.sponsorship
metadata.value: This research was financed by the Ministry of Science, Education and Technological Development
  of the Republic of Serbia within the projects no. 179064 and 179067.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.language.iso
metadata.value: en
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.publisher
metadata.value: St Petersburg State University
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.relation.ispartofseries
metadata.value: Vestnik of St Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies;Volume 36; Issue 3
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Plato
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: myth
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: veracity
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: truth
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: falsehood
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: the Republic
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.title
metadata.value: Why are myths true: Plato on the veracity of myths
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.type
metadata.value: Article
metadata.lang: en_GB
resources.filename: 441-451.pdf
resources.url: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/20809/1/441-451.pdf
resources.format: Adobe PDF
resources.size: 634,5 kB