Abstract
This paper provides a précis of Ernst Cassirer’s concept of art as a symbolic form. It does so, though, in a specific respect. It points to the fact that Cassirer’s concept of “symbolic form” is two-sided. On the one hand, the concept captures general cultural phenomena that are not only meaningful but also manifest the way man makes sense of the world; thus myth, religion, and art are considered general symbolic forms. On the other hand, it captures the formal structures and semiotic tools thanks to which meaning is constructed within each general symbolic form (Cassirer called these structures “modes of objectivation”); thus, in art, perspective or the golden section are well-known examples of symbolic forms, now in a narrow sense, i.e. they are means to configure parts into an organized, meaningful whole. The paper will comment on art along both these two dimensions, but its main goal is to provide with concrete examples of aesthetic symbolic forms in the narrow sense in order to show how conceptual meaning can be inscribed in the space of aesthetic intuition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arasse D. (2004) Histoires de peintures. Seuil, Paris
Arnheim R. (1969) Visual thinking. University of California Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles/London
Bundgaard P. F. (2002) Presentation and representation in art—ontic and gestaltic constraints on aesthetic experience. Visio 7(1–2): 187–203
Bundgaard, P. F., & Østergaard, S. (2007). The story turned upside down—meaning effects linked to variation on narrative structure. Semiotica, 165(1–4), 263–275.
Cassirer, E. (1918). Kants Leben und Lehre. Darmstadt: Wissenchaftliche Buchgesellschaft (1975).
Cassirer, E. (1923–1929). Philosophie der symbolischen Formen. Darmstadt: Wissenchaftliche Buchgesellschaft (1954).
Cassirer, E. (1931). Mythischer, Ästhetischer und Theoretischer Raum. In E. W. Orth & J. M. Krois (Eds.), Symbol, Technik, Sprache. Aufsätze aus den Jahren 1927-1933 (pp. 93–119). Hamburg: Meiner (1985).
Cassirer, E. (Ed.). (1938). Zur Logik des Symbolbegriffs. Wesen und Wirkung des Symbolbegriffs (pp. 201–230). Darmstadt: Primus Verlag (1997).
Cassirer E. (1944) An essay on man. Yale University Press, New Haven
Kant, I. (1790). Kritik der Urteilskraft. Frankfurt a. Main: Suhrkamp (1974).
Leyton M. (1992) Symmetry, causality, mind. MIT Press, Massachusetts
Panofsky E. (1993) Perspective as symbolic form. MIT Press, Massachusetts
Petitot, J. (1979). Saint-Georges: Remarques sur l’Espace Pictural. In A. J. Greimas et al. (Eds.), Sémiotique de l’Espace (pp. 95–153). Paris: Denoël-Gonthier.
Petitot J. (1992) Physique du sens. Editions du CNRS, Paris
Petitot J. (2003) Neurogeometry of V1 and Kanizsa contours. Axiotmathes 13: 347–363
Petitot J. (2004) Morphologie et Esthétique. Maisonneuve & Larose, Paris
Philonenko A. (1989) L’Ecole de Marbourg. Vrin, Paris
Ramachandran V. S., Hirstein W. (1999) The science of art. Journal of Consciousness Studies 6(6–7): 15–51
Thom R. (1988) Esquisse d’une sémiophysique. Inter-Editions, Paris
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bundgaard, P.F. The grammar of aesthetic intuition: on Ernst Cassirer’s concept of symbolic form in the visual arts. Synthese 179, 43–57 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9631-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9631-8