Symbolic Forms for a New Humanity: Cultural and Racial Reconfigurations of Critical Theory (Just Ideas)

In dialogue with afro-caribbean philosophy, this book seeks in Cassirer’s philosophy of symbolic forms a new vocabulary for approaching central intellectual and political issues of our time. For Cassirer, what makes humans unique is that we are symbolizing creatures destined to come into a world through varied symbolic forms; we pluralistically work with and develop these forms as we struggle to come to terms with who we are and our place in the universe. This approach can be used as a powerful challenge to hegemonic modes of study that mistakenly place the Western world at the center of intellectual and political life. Indeed, the authors argue that the symbolic dimension of Cassirer’s thinking of possibility can be linked to a symbolic dimension in revolution via the ideas of Frantz Fanon, who argued that revolution must be a thoroughgoing cultural process, in which what is at stake is nothing less than how we symbolize a new humanity and bring into being a new set of social institutions worthy of that new humanity.

Politics & Social Sciences

Drucilla Cornell

Kenneth Michael Panfilio

Philosophy

Fordham University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kenneth Michael Panfilio. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Kenneth Michael Panfilio

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kenneth Michael Panfilio. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Symbolic Forms for a New Humanity: Cultural and Racial Reconfigurations of Critical Theory (Just Ideas)

Symbolic Forms for a New Humanity: Cultural and Racial Reconfigurations of Critical Theory (Just Ideas)