A Philosophical-Anthropological Case for Cassirer in Rhetoric

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 346-365
Author(s):  
Erik Bengtson ◽  
Mats Rosengren
Keyword(s):  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
Philosophical Anthropology ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Rhetorical Tradition ◽  
Symbolic Forms ◽  
Anthropological Approach ◽  
Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms

In this article we argue that Ernst Cassirer's philosophy of symbolic forms is an indispensible philosophical-anthropological companion to rhetoric. We propose that appropriating Cassirer's understanding of symbolic forms enables rhetoric to go beyond the dominant perspective of language oriented theory and fully commit to a widened understanding of rhetoric as the study of how social meaning is created, performed and transformed. To clearly bring out the thrust of our enlarged rhetorical-philosophical-anthropological approach we have structured our argument partly as a contrastive critique of Thomas A. Discenna's recent (Rhetorica 32/3; 2014) attempt to include Cassirer in the rhetorical tradition through a reading of the 1929 debate in Davos between Cassirer and Martin Heidegger; partly through a presentation of the aspects of Cassirer's thought that we find most important for developing a rhetorical-philosophical-anthropology of social meaning.

Rhetoric's ghost at Davos

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-266
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Discenna
Keyword(s):  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
Rhetorical Theory ◽  
Ernst Cassirer ◽  
Symbolic Forms ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms ◽  
Central Purpose

This essay takes up a discussion concerning the 1929 debate between the philosophers Ernst Cassirer and Martin Heidegger by reading it as an instatiation of an ongoing dilemma within the field of rhetoric. I argue that the Davos meeting may be productively read through the lens of rhetorical theory and that such a reading can contribute to a more nuanced understanding of this event. The essay concludes by making a case for Cassirer's philosophy of symbolic forms as a normative ground for a rhetorical theory whose central purpose is to construct a decent, cultured, cosmopolitan, critical humanism.

scholarly journals Reflections on social and religious pluralism based on the philosophy of Ernst Cassirer

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 338-358
Author(s):  
Drazen Volk
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Central Section ◽  
Ernst Cassirer ◽  
Symbolic Forms ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms

The analysis of possibilities of dialogue as the prerequisite for social and religious pluralism based on Ernst Cassirer?s philosophy of symbolic forms is the main theme of this article. In the central section, the basic elements of the philosophy of symbolic forms are briefly introduced and are followed by a portrayal of the relationship between consciousness, symbolic forms and freedom. The essay then focuses on Cassirer?s general premises for his analysis of myth and also his description of the techniques of modern political myths. These elements of Cassirer?s philosophy are put forth so as to demonstrate the relevancy of his thought with regard to the issue of dialogue and pluralism, and also to indicate the applicability of his analysis concerning the presence of mythical consciousness in modern societies, including also the societies on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The conclusion endeavors to gather the wealth of Cassirer?s analyses and to apply these in a condensed manner to an analysis of the situation in the regions indicated and also to point out directions to be taken in the search for possible solutions.

Kulturphilosophie in Weimar Modernism

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Michael Krois
Keyword(s):  
Conservative Approach ◽  
Georg Simmel ◽  
Ernst Cassirer ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Symbolic Forms ◽  
Philosophy Of Culture ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
New Thinking ◽  
Scientific Phenomena ◽  
Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms

The Weimar Republic was one of the most fertile epochs in German philosophy, and its effects are still being felt today. The call for “new thinking” was shared by otherwise disparate approaches. The phenomenologists sought to find the “beginnings” of knowing in pre-scientific phenomena, while thinkers at the forefront of what would later be known as analytic philosophy found a new approach to philosophy in the analysis of language. A third approach took its starting point from the fact of culture and sought to find a new orientation for philosophy in the study of the historical world. This movement, known as “Kulturphilosophie” (the philosophy of culture), was often regarded as a more conservative approach to philosophy. This chapter highlights the characteristics of Kulturphilosophie. The discipline was pioneered by the sociologist Georg Simmel and perfected by the philosopher Ernst Cassirer especially in his monumental, three-volume masterpiece, The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms.

The power of rituals: Mendelssohn and Cassirer on the religious dimension of Bildung

2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-464
Author(s):  
ANNE POLLOK
Keyword(s):  
Symbolic Forms ◽  
Religious Dimension ◽  
The One ◽  
Self Formation ◽  
Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms

AbstractThis article discusses the ceremonial laws in Judaism as a language of religion and assesses their role within human self-formation (Bildung). Moses Mendelssohn's groundbreaking account on the function of ritual offers both a solution and a threat to this issue: on the one hand the capacity to perform and understand rituals can be seen as a form of self-liberation. At the same time, the general openness to interpretation makes this conception vulnerable to the destructive force of idolatry. With the aid of Ernst Cassirer's Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, this article offers a solution to this problem by showing how ritual functions as a dialogue between the members of a community; a dialogue that carries a distinctively ethical outreach.

Freedom and Culture

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuchen Xiang ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Subject ◽  
Human Agency ◽  
The Self ◽  
Chinese Tradition ◽  
Symbolic Forms ◽  
The World ◽  
Book Of Changes ◽  
Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms ◽  
Symbolic Formation

Through a key passage (Xici 2.2) from the Book of Changes, this paper shows that Ernst Cassirer’s philosophy of symbolic forms shares similarities with the canonical account of symbolic formation in the Chinese tradition: the genesis of xiang (象), often translated as image or symbol. xiang became identified with the origins of culture/civilisation itself. In both cases, the world is understood as primordially (phenomenologically) meaningful; the expressiveness of the world requires a human subject to consummate it in a symbol, whilst the symbol in turn gives us access to higher orders of meaning. It is the self-conscious creation of the symbol that then allows for the higher forms of culture. For both the Xici and Cassirer, symbols and the symbolic consciousness that comes with it is the pre-condition for the freedom, ethics and the cultivation of agency. As for both the Xici and Cassirer, it is human agency that creates these symbols, it will be argued that the Xici is making a Cassirerian argument about the (ethical) relationship between human agency, symbols and ethics/freedom.

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