The Symbolic Construction of Reality
The Legacy of Ernst Cassirer
Jeffrey Andrew Barash, Jeffrey Andrew Barash
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
The Symbolic Construction of Reality
The Legacy of Ernst Cassirer
Jeffrey Andrew Barash, Jeffrey Andrew Barash
About This Book
In 1933 eminent philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1874â1945) fled Nazi Germany for the United States. His fame in Europe having already beenestablished through a public debate with Martin Heidegger in 1929, Cassirer would go on to become a noteworthy influence on American culture. His most important early writings focused on the symbol and symbolic interaction, exploring how human culturesâfrom early myth-based ones to our own modern, scientifically oriented timeâhave used symbols to mediate the basic forms of experience. Following this work, Cassirer extended his insights to encompass a broad spectrum of philosophical themes: from investigations into Western epistemological and scientific traditions to aesthetics and the philosophy of history to anthropology and political philosophy. Reflecting this diversity in Cassirer's own work, The Symbolic Construction of Reality collects eleven essays by a wide range of contributors from different fields. Each essay analyzes a different aspect of his legacy, reassessing its significance for our contemporary world and bringing much-needed attention to this seminal thinker.