Reviews for Symbol, myth, and culture

The average rating for Symbol, myth, and culture based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-01-13 00:00:00 Per-ivar Ruud As this is a posthumous collection of unpublished papers, the editor acknowledges there is some repetition in the wording. I didn't find an obvious, coherent argument, but a couple themes drew my attention. Cassirer, a German philosopher writing during the rise of Nazism, mentions the strength of political myths that galvanize people beyond the ordinary motivations of their material challenges. He says it is important to acknowledge the power of these myths because it enables understanding one's enemy. Separately, he critiques the "aesthetic hedonism" that he sees in the theory of Benedetto Croce along with Croce's claim that all language is lyrical, as Cassirer insists that not all forms of expression are artistic and that art generally must do certain things to earn the name of art (it must have specific kinds of aesthetic value, it is usually driven by strong emotion, and it must aim to improve our character).

Review # 2 was written on 2007-03-26 00:00:00 Mike Comp I stopped the reading at page 98. This book helped me to understand some concepts of the Kantian theory better, but it is still very technical and not necessarily the best one so to engage with Kant's aesthetics. Pillow's ideas are nevertheless still very interesting and I would have loved to be more familiar with Kant's philosophy so to understand them more easily. Maybe I will go back to this book when I'll be more accustomed to Kant's philosophical system.