The Genesis of the Symbolic: On the Beginnings of Ernst Cassirer's Philosophy of Culture

Arno Schubbach

Published by De Gruyter 2022

The Genesis of the Symbolic

On the Beginnings of Ernst Cassirer's Philosophy of Culture

Arno Schubbach
Translated by: D.J. Hobbs

Volume 7 in the series New Studies in the History and Historiography of Philosophy

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110623635

Overview
Contents

About this book

Ernst Cassirer’s philosophy of culture has been much discussed in recent years. However, it remains unclear how it evolved from his older theory of knowledge. This study deals with this question on the basis of Cassirer’s ‘disposition’ of a ‘philosophy of the symbolic’, reconstructed here for the first time. This text shows that the ‘symbolic’ refers to culture as a whole and to its inherent diversity.

Therefore, ‘the symbolic’ includes the relationship between the general transcendental conditions of culture and its empirical specificities in language and languages, art and the arts, myth and myths, science and disciplines. Cassirer does not comprehend this empirical and specific reality of symbolization depending on pre-existing transcendental conditions. Instead, he proceeds from the empirical diversity of the symbolisations and reflects on their simultaneously general and specific conditions.

Thus, Cassirer embarks on a path that he finds paved in Kant’s "Critique of Judgement": He consequently defines ‘the symbolic’ as the horizon for a reflective approach based on empirical findings – and not as the foundation of a systematic derivation of the diversity of culture in the style of the idealistic tradition.

New insights into the transformation of Cassirer’s theory of knowledge into a philosophy of culture

Rethinks the relationship between Cassirer’s and Kant's philosophy by discussing the role of the "Critique of Judgment"

Author / Editor information

Arno Schubbach, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
List of Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
The Beginnings of a Work Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
The Empirical Transformation of the Transcendental Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
The Genesis of the Symbolic and Cassirer’s Engagement with the Cultural Sciences Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
Concluding Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	325
Appendix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	379
Index of Names Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	397
Index of Subjects Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	401

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Original publisher: Felix Meiner Verlag
Audience: Scholars, insitutes, libraries (History of Philosophy, contemporary philosophy)
Pages
- Front matter: 8
- Main content: 404
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 46
Keywords: Cassirer; Kant; Plurality of Science; Plurality of Culture

eBook

Published: November 22, 2021
ISBN: 9783110623635

Hardcover

Published: November 22, 2021
ISBN: 9783110607024