Mathematics as Form of Knowledge in Ernst Cassirers Philosophy of Culture

Philosophy of Science Colloquium
The Institute Vienna Circle holds a Philosophy of Science Colloquium with talks by our present fellows.

Date: 23/05/2024

Time: 16h45

Venue: New Institute Building (NIG), Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Wien, HS 3F

Abstract:

Both Ernst Cassirers philosophy of mathematics and his philosophy of culture received more and more attention recently. Nevertheless, there is scarcely work on the relationship between the two and in my talk I want to show, that considering both sheds new light on Cassirers conception of mathematics and, furthermore, his overall philosophy. In a first part I will show, that in Cassirers interpretation, the concept of number plays a central role in determining mathematics and the natural sciences: Mathematics is here a form of theoretical knowledge. In a second part, I will broaden the perspective and consider Cassirers reflections on nonscientific conceptions of number and show, that for Cassirer there is a double function of number. The talk will close with another expansion of perspective: I will elaborate how mathematics can further be understood as a form of meta-symbolic knowledge, and hereby give a characterization of Cassirers conception of philosophy.