Ernst Alfred Cassirer ( , ; July 28, 1874 – April 13, 1945) was a German philosopher. Trained within the Neo-Kantian Marburg School, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic
philosophy of science
Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...
.
After Cohen's death in 1918, Cassirer developed a theory of symbolism and used it to expand
phenomenology
Phenomenology may refer to:
Art
* Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties
Philosophy
* Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
of
knowledge
Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distin ...
into a more general
philosophy of culture
Philosophy of culture is a branch of philosophy that examines the essence and meaning of culture.
Early modern discourses
German Romanticism
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) has formulated an individualist definition of "en ...
. Cassirer was one of the leading 20th-century advocates of philosophical
idealism
In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ...
. His most famous work is the ''Philosophy of Symbolic Forms'' (1923–1929).
Though his work received a mixed reception shortly after his death, more recent scholarship has remarked upon Cassirer's role as a strident defender of the moral idealism of the
Enlightenment era
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
and the cause of
liberal democracy
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...
at a time when the rise of
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...
had made such advocacy unfashionable. Within the international Jewish community, Cassirer's work has additionally been seen as part of a long tradition of thought on ethical philosophy.
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...
(modern-day southwest Poland), into a
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
ish family, Cassirer studied literature and philosophy at the
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
(where he completed his doctoral work in 1899 with a dissertation on
René Descartes
René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Ma ...
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...
(where he completed his
habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...
German Democratic Party
The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...
(DDP). After working for many years as a at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin, Cassirer was elected in 1919 to the philosophy chair at the newly founded
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vo ...
, where he lectured until 1933, supervising amongst others the doctoral theses of
Joachim Ritter
Joachim Ritter (; 3 April 1903 – 3 August 1974) was a German philosopher and founder of the so-called Ritter School (german: Ritter-Schule) of liberal conservatism.
Biography
Born in Geesthacht, Ritter studied philosophy, theology, German liter ...
and
Leo Strauss
Leo Strauss (, ; September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was a German-American political philosopher who specialized in classical political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. ...
.
On 30 January 1933, the
Nazi Regime
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
came to power. Cassirer left Germany on 12 March 1933 - one week after the first Reichstagswahl under that Regime - because he was Jewish.
After leaving Germany he taught for a couple of years at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, before becoming a professor at
Gothenburg University
The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 ...
. When Cassirer considered Sweden too unsafe, he applied for a post at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
, but was rejected because thirty years earlier he had rejected a job offer from them. In 1941 he became a visiting professor at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
, then moved to
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in New York City, where he lectured from 1943 until his death in 1945.
Cassirer died of a heart attack in April 1945 in New York City. The young rabbi
Arthur Hertzberg
Arthur Hertzberg (June 9, 1921 – April 17, 2006) was a Conservative rabbi and prominent Jewish-American scholar and activist.
Biography
Avraham Hertzberg was born in Lubaczów, Poland, the eldest of five children, and left Europe in 1926 with ...
, who was a student of Cassirer's at Columbia University, conducted the funeral service. His grave is located in
Westwood, New Jersey
Westwood (known as "The Hub of the Pascack Valley") is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 10,908,Heinz Cassirer, was also a Kantian scholar.
Other members of his prominent family included the neurologist
Richard Cassirer
Richard Cassirer (23 April 1868 – 20 August 1925) was a German neurologist born into a Jewish family in Breslau.
After receiving his medical doctorate in 1891, he became assistant at the psychiatric clinic in Breslau under Karl Wernicke (1848& ...
, the publisher and gallery owner Bruno Cassirer and the art dealer and editor
Paul Cassirer
Paul Cassirer (21 February 1871, in Görlitz – 7 January 1926, in Berlin) was a German art dealer and editor who played a significant role in the promotion of the work of artists of the Berlin Secession and of French Impressionists and Post- ...
.
Influences
Donald Phillip Verene, who published some of Cassirer's papers kept at Yale University, gave this overview of his ideas:
"Cassirer as a thinker became an embodiment of Kantian principles, but also of much more, of an overall movement of spirit stretching from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, and on to Herder’s conception of history, Goethe’s poetry, Wilhelm von Humboldt’s study of the Kavi language, Schelling’s , Hegel’s ''Phenomenology of Spirit'', and Vischer’s conception of the aesthetic symbol, among many others. Cassirer’s own position is born through a mastery of the whole development of this world of the humanistic understanding, which included the rise of the scientific world view — a mastery evident both in his historical works and in his systematic philosophy."
Kant
Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...
. In accordance with his Marburg neo-Kantianism he concentrated upon epistemology. His reading of the
scientific revolution
The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transforme ...
, in books such as ''The Individual and the Cosmos in Renaissance Philosophy'' (1927), as a "Platonic" application of mathematics to nature, influenced historians such as E. A. Burtt, E. J. Dijksterhuis, and Alexandre Koyré.
Philosophy of science
In ''Substance and Function'' (1910), he writes about late nineteenth-century developments in physics including
relativity theory
The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena ...
and the
foundations of mathematics
Foundations of mathematics is the study of the philosophical and logical and/or algorithmic basis of mathematics, or, in a broader sense, the mathematical investigation of what underlies the philosophical theories concerning the nature of mathe ...
. In ''Einstein's Theory of Relativity'' (1921) he defended the claim that modern physics supports a neo-Kantian conception of knowledge. He also wrote a book about
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...
called ''Determinism and Indeterminism in Modern Physics'' (1936).
Philosophy of symbolic forms
At Hamburg Cassirer discovered the Library of the Cultural Sciences founded by
Aby Warburg
Aby Moritz Warburg, better known as Aby Warburg, (June 13, 1866 – October 26, 1929) was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg (Library for Cultural Studies), a private library, ...
. Warburg was an art historian who was particularly interested in ritual and myth as sources of surviving forms of emotional expression. In ''Philosophy of Symbolic Forms'' (1923–29) Cassirer argues that man (as he put it in his more popular 1944 book ''Essay on Man'') is a "
symbolic animal
''Animal symbolicum'' ("symbol-making" or "symbolizing animal") is a definition for humans proposed by the German neo-Kantian Ernst Cassirer.
The tradition since Aristotle has defined a human being as ''animal rationale'' (a rational animal). H ...
". Whereas animals perceive their world by
instinct
Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing both innate (inborn) and learned elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a v ...
s and direct
sensory perception
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...
, humans create a universe of
symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
ic meanings. Cassirer is particularly interested in natural language and myth. He argues that science and mathematics developed from natural language, and religion and art from myth.
The Cassirer–Heidegger debate
In 1929 Cassirer took part in a historically significant encounter with
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centu ...
in
Davos
, neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch
, twintowns =
}
Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alps, Alpine resort town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, muni ...
Cassirer–Heidegger debate
The Cassirer–Heidegger debate was an encounter between the philosophers Martin Heidegger and Ernst Cassirer from March 17 to April 6, 1929 during the Second Davos Hochschulkurs ( Davos University Conference) which held its opening session in t ...
). Cassirer argues that while Kant's '' Critique of Pure Reason'' emphasizes human temporality and finitude, he also sought to situate human cognition within a broader conception of humanity. Cassirer challenges Heidegger's relativism by invoking the universal validity of truths discovered by the exact and moral sciences.
''Philosophy of the Enlightenment''
Cassirer believed that reason's
self-realization
Self-realization is an expression used in Western psychology, philosophy, and spirituality; and in Indian religions. In the Western understanding, it is the "fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality" (s ...
leads to human liberation. Mazlish (2000), however, notes that Cassirer in his ''The Philosophy of the Enlightenment'' (1932) focuses exclusively on ideas, ignoring the political and social context in which they were produced.
''The Logic of the Cultural Sciences''
In ''The Logic of the Cultural Sciences'' (1942) Cassirer argues that objective and universal validity can be achieved not only in the sciences, but also in practical, cultural, moral, and aesthetic phenomena. Although inter-subjective objective validity in the natural sciences derives from universal laws of nature, Cassirer asserts that an analogous type of inter-subjective objective validity takes place in the cultural sciences.
''The Myth of the State''
Cassirer's last work, ''The Myth of the State'' (1946), was published posthumously; at one level it is an attempt to understand the intellectual origins of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. Cassirer sees Nazi Germany as a society in which the dangerous power of myth is not checked or subdued by superior forces. The book discusses the opposition of
logos
''Logos'' (, ; grc, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive reasoning. Aris ...
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's ''
Republic
A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...
'', the medieval theory of the state, Machiavelli,
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy.
Born in Ecclefechan, ...
's writings on hero worship, the racial theories of
Arthur de Gobineau
Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (; 14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882) was a French aristocrat who is best known for helping to legitimise racism by the use of scientific racist theory and "racial demography", and for developing the theory of the Aryan ...
, and
Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
. Cassirer claimed that in 20th-century politics there was a return, with the passive acquiescence of
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centu ...
, to the irrationality of myth, and in particular to a belief that there is such a thing as destiny. Of this passive acquiescence, Cassirer says that in departing from Husserl's belief in an objective, logical basis for philosophy, Heidegger attenuated the ability of philosophy to oppose the resurgence of myth in German politics of the 1930s.
Donald Phillip Verene
Donald Phillip Verene (born October 24, 1937) is an American philosophy professor and author. He is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy at Emory University. at Emory University
Early life and education
Donald ...
(March 11, 1981)
* Ernst Cassirer: Gesammelte Werke. Hamburger Ausgabe. Electronic Edition. ' (2016) – The electronic version of the definitive edition of Cassirer's works, published in print by Felix Meiner Verlag, and electronically in the Past Masters series '.
* ''The Warburg Years (1919-1933): Essays on Language, Art, Myth, and Technology''. Translated and with an Introduction by S. G. Lofts with A. Calcagno. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
References
Further reading
*Aubenque, Pierre, et al. "Philosophie und Politik: Die Davoser Disputation zwischen Ernst Cassirer und Martin Heidgger in der Retrospektive." ''Internationale Zeitschrift für Philosophie,'' 2: 290-312
*Barash, Jeffrey Andrew. ''The Symbolic Construction of Reality: The Legacy of Ernst Cassirer'' (2008) excerpt and text search
* Burtt, Edwin Arthur. ''The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science,'' London: Paul Trencher (2000)
* Eilenberger, Wolfram. ''Time of the Magicians: The invention of modern thought, 1919–29'', Allen Lane (2020)
* Folkvord Ingvild & Hoel Aud Sissel (eds.), ''Ernst Cassirer on Form and Technology: Contemporary Readings'', (2012), Basingstoke, Palgrave MacMillan ().
* Friedman, Michael. ''A Parting of the Ways: Carnap, Cassirer, and Heidegger'' (2000) excerpt and text search
* Gordon, Peter Eli. ''Continental Divide: Heidegger, Cassirer, Davos'' (2010)
* Krois, John Michael. ''Cassirer: Symbolic Forms and History'' (Yale University Press 1987)
* Lassègue, Jean. Cassirer’s Transformation: From a Transcendental to a Semiotic Philosophy of Forms. Springer, 2020. (Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics book series. volume 55) Online
* Lipton, David R. ''Ernst Cassirer: The Dilemma of a Liberal Intellectual in Germany, 1914-1933'' (1978)
* Lofts. Steve G. ''Ernst Cassirer: A "Repetition" of Modernity'' (2000)
SUNY Press
The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by ...
, at Google Books * Magerski, Christine. "Reaching Beyond the Supra-Historical Sphere: from Cassirer's Philosophy of Symbolic Forms to Bourdieu's Sociology of Symbolic Forms." ´´Pierre Bourdieu and the Field of Cultural Production.´´ Ed. J. Browitt. University of Delaware Press (2004): 21-29.
* Schilpp, Paul Arthur (ed.). ''The Philosophy of Ernst Cassirer'' (1949 archive.org * Schultz, William. ''Cassirer & Langer on Myth'' (2nd ed. 2000) excerpt and text search
* Skidelsky, Edward. ''Ernst Cassirer: The Last Philosopher of Culture'' (Princeton University Press, 2008), 288 pp. .
*Hardy, Anton G. "Symbol Philosophy and the Opening into Consciousness and Creativity" (2014)