- Philosophy in a New Key
"Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite and Art" is the main work of American philosopher
Susanne K. Langer (1895-1985), first published in1941 . In it she declared that "Symbolism was the ‘new key’ to understanding how the human mind transformed the primal need to express oneself [ Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, London, 1998.] ."ynopsis
"Mrs. Langer elaborates her thesis in freshly conceived and interesting studies contained in chapters treating of the logic of signs and symbols, a comparison of discursive and presentational forms ofsymbolism (perhaps the heart of the book), verbal language, life symbols as the roots of sacrament and myth, the significance of music, the genesis of artistic import, and the fabric of meaning [DeWitt H. Parker "The Philosophical Review", Vol. 52, No. 3. (May, 1943), pg. 306.] ."
Chapters
* Chapter 1: The New Key
* Chapter 2: Symbolic Transformations
* Chapter 3: The Logic of Signs and Symbols
* Chapter 4: Discursive Forms and Presentational Forms
* Chapter 5: Language
* Chapter 6: Life-Symbols: The Roots of Sacrament
* Chapter 7: Life-Symbols: The Roots of Myth
* Chapter 8: On Significance in Music
* Chapter 9: The Genesis of Artistic Import
*Chapter 10: The Fabric of MeaningNotes
References
econdary
:Adams, Hazard, "Langer's New Key." Philosophy of the Literary Symbolic. Tallahassee: UP of Florida, 1983. 221-232.:Schultz, William, "Cassirer and Langer on Myth," 2000 ISBN 0815324650
External links
* [http://www.anthonyflood.com/langernewkey.htm Prefaces to the 1941 and 1951 editions.]
* [http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/LANPHI.html Book at Harvard University Press]
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