Symbolic Construction of Reality

The Legacy of Ernst Cassirer

Barash Jeffrey Andrew

In 1933 eminent philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945) fled Nazi Germany for the United States. His fame in Europe having already been established 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 cultures – from early myth-based ones to our own modern, scientifically oriented time – have 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.

About the Author

Jeffrey Andrew Barash is a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Amiens in France. He is the author or editor of many books, including, most recently, "Martin Heidegger and the Problem of Historical Meaning" and "The Social Construction of Reality", the latter published by the University of Chicago Press.

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