The anthropology of cosmic origin: Primordial substance in myth, philosophy, religion, and science

This dissertation addresses one of humanity's most ancient questions: the origin of the universe and the problem of "primordial matter," approached from a social sciences perspective. The starting point of the study is the inquiry into how human thought across different cultures and periods has conceptualized "the beginning" and represented the first existence through various symbolic forms. For this purpose, the dissertation is structured around four main axes. The first chapter examines cosmogonic narratives from diverse world mythologies, analyzing the anthropological meaning of symbolic primordial elements such as water, chaos, earth, sky, or the cosmic egg. The second chapter explores the philosophical quest for the arkhe and the principle of origin, from Ancient Greek thought to Islamic philosophy, focusing on debates over the eternity of matter, change, and unity. The third chapter investigates the doctrines of creation within Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, offering a comparative discussion of cosmogonies and conceptions of primordial being as articulated in sacred texts. The fourth chapter turns to modern scientific cosmology, evaluating contemporary approaches to the universe's origin such as the Big Bang theory, quantum vacuum, entropy, and multiverse models. Overall, the dissertation seeks to reveal, through the lens of primordial matter, how humanity has envisioned the origin of the cosmos in a comparative, historical, and cross-cultural manner. In doing so, it highlights both continuities and ruptures between imagination and scientific reasoning, ultimately offering a folkloric, anthropological, and philosophical synthesis.