''Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite and Art'' is the main work of American

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Susanne K. Langer, first published in 1941. In it she declares that "

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sy ...

was the ‘new key’ to understanding how the human mind transformed the primal need to express oneself."

Synopsis

"Langer elaborates her thesis in freshly conceived and interesting studies contained in chapters treating of the logic of signs and

symbols 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 ...

, a comparison of discursive and presentational forms of symbolism (perhaps the heart of the book), verbal language, life symbols as the roots of sacrament and

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

, the significance of music, the genesis of artistic import, and the fabric of meaning."DeWitt H. Parker ''The Philosophical Review'', Vol. 52, No. 3. (May, 1943), pg. 306.

Notes

References

Secondary

:Adams, Hazard, "Langer's New Key." Philosophy of the Literary Symbolic. Tallahassee: UP of Florida, 1983. 221-232. :Schultz, William, ''Cassirer and Langer on Myth,'' 2000

External links

Prefaces to the 1941 and 1951 editions.Book at Harvard University Press
1941 non-fiction books English-language books Philosophy books {{Philo-book-stub