Description
In his seminal work, An Essay on Man, renowned philosopher Ernst Cassirer takes a deep dive into the essence of what it means to be human. He moves away from traditional definitions that focus on biology or psychology, and instead proposes that it is our unique capacity for symbolic thought that truly sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.
Cassirer argues that humans are not merely passive recipients of the world around us, but rather active creators of meaning. We are, in his words, homo symbolicus, the symbol-making animal. Through language, myth, art, religion, and technology, we construct symbolic universes that shape our understanding of ourselves and the world.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.