Sponsor
Portland State University. Department of History
Date of Publication
1973
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.) in History
Department
History
Language
English
Subjects
Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945), History -- Philosophy
DOI
10.15760/etd.2041
Physical Description
1 online resource (66 p.)
Abstract
The problem of a method of historical analysis played an integral part in the scholarship of Ernst Cassirer, German philosopher and historian. An Essay on Man, the work for which he is best known in the United State, includes his most lucid discussion of the tasks and aims of the historian. The historian must reconstruct the past, infusing it with the immediacy of a living expression. “Rebirth of the past” gives man a better view of his potentialities, a freedom to see beyond the demands, characteristics, and contingencies of the moment.
This view of history and the historian’s task was reiterated by Cassirer in several of his works on theory and was implicit in a number of his books and articles on historical topics. The following critique will focus on Cassirer’s discussion of history and on his historical method as it was demonstrated in several of his writings.
Despite the criticism of Cassirer’s penchant for structure and affinity for schemata, he has had a profound influence on the general community of historians. His work in many areas was unique and he did considerable original research. He has had some influence on subsequent historians, especially with some of the specifics of his data. Even the abundance of criticisms of his works attests to the to the seriousness with which he has been viewed as a historian.
Rights
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/12957
Recommended Citation
Stewart, Mart, "Ernst Cassirer and the Synthesis of the Past : a Paradigm in the History of Ideas" (1973). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2042.
https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.2041
Comments
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History