Gods, Myths, and Ideas

The book covers various central aspects of cultures of the Global South, including religious, mythological, ethical and conceptual ideas in China, India, Africa, South America, Greece, and the Islamic world. Each contribution in the book introduces a major aspect of a given tradition to a non-specialist readership.

The book dicusses early Chinese mythology and the role of “immortals” in Chinese religion, the connection between mythology and philosophy in early Greece, the veneration of the Earth in native South American religion, a comparison of mythological beliefs and religious practices among various indigenous communities, and a depiction of the interplay between religion and politics in India. It looks at traditional Chinese values, indigenous African values, notions of time in Mayan culture, concepts of the feminine in Islam, and discussions of the relation between faith and reason in Indian philosophy and between order and truth in Chinese and European philosophy.

Part of the The Emergence and Decline of Civilizations series, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of philosophy, religion, ethics, sociology, and regional studies.