Michael Bongardt

My following contribution introduces Ernst Cassirer’s understanding of mythical thinking. It begins with an analysis of Cassirer’s last book, The Myth of the State, which deals with modern political myths. This is then explored in greater depth with reference to his Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, developed in the 1920s. Against this illuminated background, it will ultimately be made clear that Cassirer is a radical thinker on freedom and – not least political – responsibility. mehr