SYMBOLIZATION OF MYTHICAL SPACE IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF ERNST CASSIRER

Abstract

The purpose of the article is identification of the role of the symbol in the process of philosophical understanding of the structures of mythical space by the outstanding German philosopher of the 20th century, Ernst Cassirer, and analysis of the features of symbolization of mythical space in the concept of Cassirer. Methodological principles of the study are philosophical reflection, phenomenological approach, historical and philosophical analysis of primary sources, comparative analysis, systematization. Scientific novelty. The role of the symbol as an integrating and constitutive factor in the process of constructing the structures of the mythical space was clarified. The analysis of myth as a specific symbolic form and “space of myth” in E. Cassirer's “The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms” is covered in the context of the development of the European philosophical tradition. The main features of the mythical space in E. Cassirer's concept (unity of “place” and “content”, clearly expressed structure, heterogeneity, delimitation of sacred and profane localities) are singled out and considered. The structure of the symbolic space of myth in E. Cassirer is characterized as a kind of “puzzle” spatial structures. Conclusion. In the cultural and philosophical analysis of mythical space, Ernst Cassirer clearly showed how the symbol performs its main functions: the function of combination (by symbolizing different localities and directions), the function of delimitation (by fixing for each place its inherent symbolic content), the function of structuring, the function of marking and distinguishing sacred and profane meanings, the function of mediator between feelings and human thinking (for example, the symbolism of heterogeneity). Any mythical space has been symbolized as a “puzzle structure” because the space of the myth is heterogeneous, fragmentary, enigmatic (that is, one that contains a mystery, a mystical experience of a particular community or humanity as a whole).