Reflections on Metaphysics in the Philosophy of Symbolic Forms of Ernst Cassirer

Abstract

This article seeks to familiarize the Croatian philosophical-theological academic milieu with the work and thought of one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century, Ernst Cassirer. One of the lesser known and commented branches of his philosophy is the metaphysics of symbolic forms which is exceptionally important in understanding the totality of his thought structure. In order to properly grasp the novelty and radicality of Cassirer's interpretation of being and metaphysics, it is necessary to illuminate the fundamental premises of anthropology and the critique of eleatic thought both of which are discussed in the introduction and part of the first section of the article. In fact, the basic method applied in the article is to approach the metaphysics of symbolic forms by using anthropology as the key. Cassirer's metaphysics is focused upon the two basic poles of spirit and life, and so for a complete portrayal of this problem we must first elucidate these notions within the framework of his system. All thought structures, and so too the philosophy of symbolic forms, contain certain ambiguities, therefore to bring forward critiques of the same contributes to a better understanding of philosophical tenets. This is the case also with the metaphysics of symbolic forms, the theme of the second section of the article. Thus it is possible to conclude that the implications of Cassirer's metaphysics in the fields of anthropology and the philosophy of culture, enhanced by a broader and deeper requisite analysis, can provide a rich incentive for contemporary philosophy, but also for theology, particularly in this region of the world.