''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). However, Cassirer claimed that man's outstanding characteristic is not in his metaphysical or physical nature, but rather in his work. Humanity cannot be known directly, but has to be known through the analysis of the symbolic universe that man has created historically. Thus man should be defined as ''animal symbolicum'' (a symbol-making or symbolizing animal). On this basis, Cassirer sought to understand human nature by exploring symbolic forms in all aspects of a human being's experience. His work is represented in his three-volume ''Philosophie der Symbolischen Formen'' (1923–9, translated as ''The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms'') and is summarized in his ''An Essay on Man''.

W. J. T. Mitchell William John Thomas Mitchell (born March 24, 1942) is an American academic. Mitchell is the Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor of English and Art History at the University of Chicago. He is also the editor of ''Critical Inquiry'', a ...

used this term in his essay on "representation" to say that

"man, for many philosophers both ancient and modern, is the "representational animal," ''homo symbolicum'' , the creature whose distinctive character is the creation and manipulation of signs - things that stand for or take the place of something else."McLaughlin, T. & Lentricchia, F. (1990). Critical Terms for
Literary Study Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...
. Chicago: The University of Chicago press

References

Semiotics Meaning (philosophy of language) Philosophical anthropology {{semiotics-stub