MYTH IN HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY AS MYTH: ON THE AMBIVALENCE OF HANS BLUMENBERG'S INTERPRETATION OF ERNST CASSIRER'S THEORY OF MYTH

This essay explores the different interpretations proposed by Ernst Cassirer and Hans Blumenberg of the relation between Platonic philosophy and myth as a means of bringing to light a fundamental divergence in their respective conceptions of what precisely myth is. It attempts to show that their con...

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Published inHistory and theory :Studies in the philosophy of history Vol. 50; no. 3; pp. 328 - 340
Main Author BARASH, JEFFREY ANDREW
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.10.2011
Wiley Subscription Services
Blackwell
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Blumenberg
Blumenberg, Hans
Cassirer
Cassirer, Ernst (1874-1945)
Caves
Creation myths
History
Legacies
myth
Myth ritual theory
Mythology
Myths
Philosophy
Philosophy of history
Philosophy of history. Social and political philosophy. Philosophy of law
Plato
Platonism
Political attitudes
Political ethics
Political History
political thought
symbolic forms
Theodicy
Theory
Myth
Ernst Cassirer
History philosophy
Politics
History
Interpretation
Sense;Meaning
Implication
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Summary:This essay explores the different interpretations proposed by Ernst Cassirer and Hans Blumenberg of the relation between Platonic philosophy and myth as a means of bringing to light a fundamental divergence in their respective conceptions of what precisely myth is. It attempts to show that their conceptions of myth are closely related to their respective assumptions concerning the historical significance of myth and regarding the sense of history more generally. Their divergent conceptions of myth and of history, I argue, are at the same time not simply matters of abstract speculation, but spring from fundamental presuppositions concerning myth's political significance. The present elucidation aims not only to set in relief one or another of the ways in which Cassirer or Blumenberg understood myth, nor even to present Blumenberg's critical reception of Cassirer's theories, but above all to contribute to the interpretation of the political implications of myth and of its historical potency in our contemporary epoch.
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ark:/67375/WNG-4TZ7G015-Q
ArticleID:HITH588
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:0018-2656
1468-2303
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2303.2011.00588.x