The Unity of the Material and Spiritual World

Gustavo Esparza

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Chapter 1 The Unity of the Material and Spiritual World

In: The Universal Form of the Singular: The Early Philosophy of Ernst Cassirer (1898â1917)

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Gustavo Esparza

Gustavo Esparza
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Translator:

AndrÃ©s TÃ©llez-Parra

AndrÃ©s TÃ©llez-Parra
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 6â32

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004741126_003

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This chapter explores the central philosophical problem of universal knowledge of the singular. Cassirer approaches this problem from two angles. First, in his debate with Konrad Marc-Wogau, he discusses the importance and objectives of symbolic philosophy. Throughout this debate, he defines the objectives of a project that promotes cultural unity. Second, by studying non-Euclidean geometry and its foundations, the neo-Kantian demonstrated that general laws are not rigid axioms, but rather, can be reshaped by the objects they describe. This positions the human subject not as a constructor of reality, but rather as a builder of cognitive categories about the world. Through these insights, Cassirer postulates that philosophy must rethink the relationship between the particular and the universal as a âhypostasis,â or a foundational superposition, in which the natural and theoretical worlds are not separate realms, but rather a single composition that can be understood through two different frameworks. This allows for genuine knowledge without reducing it to pure subjectivity or an impenetrable objective reality.

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The Universal Form of the Singular: The Early Philosophy of Ernst Cassirer (1898â1917)

Series:Â New Research in the History of Western Philosophy, Volume: 11

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004741126

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 01 Apr 2026

Subjects
- Philosophy
  - Early Modern Philosophy
  - 19th & 20th Century Philosophy

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Chapter 1 The Unity of the Material and Spiritual World

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The Universal Form of the Singular: The Early Philosophy of Ernst Cassirer (1898â1917)

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The Universal Form of the Singular: The Early Philosophy of Ernst Cassirer (1898â1917)