Abstract

My assertion is simply that when understood in its fullness and in all its complexity, Cassirer’s Symbolic Forms offers a method for overcoming cultural divisions through a “middle way” advanced by and through symbolic forms. Human interpretations of perspective must evolve. Connection to others is the basis for genuinely ethical attitudes and actions. Ethical precepts of the past are becoming the imperatives for survival in the future. We must now choose conscious ethical evolution. The principles that we learn from symbolic forms can be used as guides to overcoming separation, reconciling difference, and giving meaning to everyday experience. These principles can assist us in navigating the complexities of ethical decision making, and can point us toward moral action, transforming stagnant mores of today into living, dynamic, cultural expressions tomorrow. Each self-identity becomes enriched and expanded through interaction with different belief systems, cultures, faiths, norms, and values. As people open themselves to multifarious experiences, their own center becomes more secure, while their outward expression becomes more multi-dimensional and diverse. Ethics becomes a project of breaking down internal and external boundaries which prevent people from perceiving from a variety of perspectives. Self-knowledge becomes a means for responsible action in collaboration, not opposition, with others. This is the outcome of the use of symbolic forms. Each aspect in the design of Cassirer’s symbolic forms speaks to a new evolution of our interpretation of our perceptions which we can apply to people, situations and relationships, and cultural forms.