Sophic and mantic

H. Curtis Wright, a professor in the Brigham Young University (BYU) Library information science program, popularized the distinction and several Latter-day Saint (LDS) scholars referenced it, mostly in the 1990s.

Richard Cracroft made the distinction part of his critique of Mormon fiction, in which he proposed fiction could be organized into sophic and mantic categories, with sophic literature aligning with worldly literary standards and mantic literature strengthening the faith of its Mormon readers.

Josephus described an Egyptian king who wanted prophetic gifts as a sophos kai mantikos aner, a sophic and a mantic man.

[4] In his notes on the sophic and mantic, Nibley traces the distinction back to Diogenes Laertius's description of philosophy as beginning with Anaximander, a naturalistic philosopher, and Pythagoras, a mathematician interested in the mystical.

Empedocles and wrote that true reason was "either divine or human," showing that this distinction was part of classical thought.

"[8] H. Curtis Wright, a professor in BYU's Library and Information Sciences program, published multiple articles on the sophic and mantic.

He accused Mormon critics of having a "confusion between Mantic and Sophic stances", using Eugene England's praise for Levi S. Peterson's The Backslider as an example of a critic who praised a book that was "faithful to a Sophic and secular vision of literature" but made Cracroft's "Mantic sensibilities recoil".

Cracroft praised Mormon writers with "Mantic voices" that "speak to the Saints within the fold", such as Orson Scott Card for his Tales of Alvin Maker series, and Marilyn Brown's The Earthkeepers.

[18] Michael Austin wrote that Cracroft's sophic-mantic dichotomization was oversimplifying literature based on whether or not it was "good" for Mormons.

She used Levi Peterson's "The Christianizing of Coburn Heights" as an example of fiction positively focused on religious themes, but that would not be classified as "mantic" or devotional literature.

[23] Matthew Hilton and Neil Flingers make sophic and mantic the center of their 1990 essay entitled "The Impact of Shifting Cultural Assumptions on the Military Policies Directing Armed Conflict Reported in the Book of Alma".

Christensen continues, arguing that there are "subjective" or supernatural aspects to science, but in a lesser degree than they are present in religion.

[28] Michael Hicks, a music theory professor at BYU, wrote two compositions for solo piano entitled "Sophikos" and "Mantikos", which reference the sophic and mantic distinction.