From Religion to Philosophy A Study in the Origins of Western Speculation

Original and engaging, this exploration of early Western philosophy traces the religious roots of science and systematic speculation. Author F. M. Cornford, a distinguished historian of ancient philosophy, combines deep classical scholarship with anthropological and sociological insights to examine the mythic precursors of enduring metaphysical concepts--such as destiny, God, the soul, substance, nature, and immortality. Cornford illustrates the rise of a new spirit of rational inquiry from traditional beliefs, demonstrating that philosophy's modes of clear definition and explicit statement were already implicit in the unreasoned intuitions of mythology.Cornford, F. M. is the author of 'From Religion to Philosophy A Study in the Origins of Western Speculation', published 2004 under ISBN 9780486433721 and ISBN 0486433722.