International Conference: Ernst Cassirer and the Phenomenological Tradition

Diego Portales University (Santiago de Chile)

The relation between Neo-Kantianism and Phenomenology, understood as alternative versions of transcendental philosophy, constitutes one of the central topics of contemporary debate. In this context, the confrontation between Ernst Cassirer’s philosophical project and the phenomenological tradition has yet to be comprehensively explored.

The recent trends in the literature emphasize the points of contact between Cassirer’s and Husserl’s philosophical positions. The two philosophers share several guiding commitments in the field of theoretical philosophy. They present similar strategies of appropriation of the Kantian tradition, advocating for the autonomy of logic and rejecting the empiricist theory of abstraction. The same productive relationship can be discerned between Cassirer and other representatives of the phenomenological tradition, such as Merleau-Ponty who takes up and applies to new contexts Cassirer’s notion of “symbolische Prägnanz”. Moreover, it can be argued that the criticism Cassirer formulated against Husserl overlaps with the ones voiced by Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, or Derrida. On a more promising note, it has also been suggested that the possibility of complementing the Neo-Kantian critical method with a specifically phenomenological one is already set in place in Cassirer’s mature philosophy.

Nevertheless, whenever Cassirer describes his enterprise as a phenomenology, he is eager to stress that this should be understood in a Hegelian and not a Husserlian sense. Cassirer’s dialogue with the other leading exponent of the phenomenological tradition at the beginning of the twentieth century did not contribute to the search for a constructive relation either. For his debate with Martin Heidegger rather than setting the scene for a fruitful collaboration was interpreted as a philosophical, generational, and political clash. In addition, there are systematic problems specific to the unique languages and methods used by these philosophers.

The aim of this conference is to engage a reflection on the cluster of problems revolving around the multifaceted relation between Cassirer and Phenomenology.

The conference will take place in person at the Diego Portales University, Santiago de Chile, on March 16 and March 17, 2023. The languages of the conference are English and Spanish.

The key-note speaker of the conference is Samantha Matherne (Harvard University).

Please send abstracts of max. 500 words to Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein. by January 25, 2023. We expect to notify authors of their acceptance at the end of January 2023. Presentations will be allotted 35-minute slots with 15 minutes for Q&A.

For further information, please contact the organizers:

Jacinto Paez Bonifaci: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein.

Ovidiu Stanciu: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein.