Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief

by Jordan B. Peterson

The world of order and chaos might be regarded as the stage, for man-for the twin aspects of man, more accurately: for the aspect that inquires, explores and transforms (which voluntarily expands the domain and structure of order, culture) and for the aspect that opposes that inquiry, exploration and transformation. The great story is, therefore, good vs. evil, played out against the endless flux of being, as it signifies. The forces of "good" have an eternal character (in the same way that Platonic objects are represented, eternally, in supracelestial space); unfortunately, so do the forces of evil. This eternality exists because all members of the species Homo sapiens are essentially equivalent, equal before God: we find ourselves vulnerable, mortal creatures, thrown into a universe bent on our creation and protection-and our transformation and destruction. Our "attitude" toward this ambivalent universe can only take one of two prototypical forms: positive or negative. The precise nature of these two forms (which can only be regarded as complex "personalities") and of the background against which they work constitutes the central subject matter of myth (and, dare it be said, the proper subject matter of the humanities and fine arts).