The Problem of Intuition for Ernst Cassirer in his Warburg Years(1919-1933)

Abstract

Zur Einsteinschen Relativitätstheorie: Erkenntnistheoretische Betrachtungen (1921), the first work published by Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945) in his years collaborating with members of the Warburg Library (Germany) - known as "Warburg Years" (1919-1933) - has as Starting point is the analysis of the empirical-physical object and its changes throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Based on goals imposed by idealism, especially Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Cassirer tries to take a step forward that, apparently, does not deny ideal principles. He preserves the critical-transcendental stance towards concepts and investigates Albert Einstein's (1879-1955) "theory of relativity". In general, the task of the present research is to explore changes in the conditions of possibility of knowledge. As a result, we use the reading made by Hernán Pringe that the evolution of physics highlights the need for a progressive renunciation of intuitive images in favor of symbolic representations. The first objective is to demonstrate that, unlike Euclid's homogeneous space, with non-Euclidean geometries the "theory of relativity" conceives space as heterogeneous. The second objective is to expose the need for a step beyond Kantianism, as there is an interrelationship between logical ideality and empirical measurement whose knowledge becomes problematic in the face of intuitive simplicity. The hypothesis is that Cassirer primarily uses these factors to construct his critique of culture, namely, announced in volume I of Philosophie der symbolischen Formen: Die Sprache, from 1923, two years after the publication of his analyzes of Einstein's physics.