Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Religion and myth -- Myth and reality: the primal vision -- Myth and ritual -- Myth, reality and science -- India. Introduction -- The religion of the Vedic period -- The beginnings of speculation: scepticism and agnosticism -- The Upaniṣadic period -- The beginnings of Lokāyāta -- Some early freethinkers -- Philosophical Lokāyāta or Cārvāka -- Early Sāmkhya and Vaiśesika naturalism -- Jain and Buddhist naturalism -- China. Early Chinese religion -- The beginnings of rationalism -- Confucius -- Early Taoism -- Later Confucian naturalism and scepticism: Hsun Tzu and other sceptics -- Wang Ch’ung -- The later sceptical tradition -- Greece. Introduction -- Early Greek religion -- Ionian naturalism -- Atomism -- The Sophists -- The classical period of Greek thought -- The Hellenistic age -- Epicureanism -- The Sceptics -- Rome. Introduction -- Cicero and Lucretius -- The early Empire -- Conclusion -- Appendix. Israel and the ancient Near East -- Babylon -- Egypt -- Postscript.

Description based on online resource; title from resource home page (EbscoHost, viewed April 13, 2020).

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