Philosophy In A New Key: A Study In The Symbolism Of Reason, Rite, And Art
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good. Jacket: No dust jacket. Page Condition: Yellowed, good. Markings: none. Binding condition: Binding intact.
At the intersection of philosophy, art, and human consciousness stands Susanne K. Langer's landmark work, Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art — a text that fundamentally reoriented 20th-century thinking about the nature of the human mind. Langer argues that symbolism, not rational discourse alone, is the foundational activity of the human mind, presenting a sweeping theory that unites language, myth, music, and ritual under a single philosophical framework. Drawing on the ideas of Ernst Cassirer and Alfred North Whitehead, she instructs the reader in a new way of seeing how meaning is constructed — not merely through logic and language, but through feeling, form, and symbol. Langer's prose is remarkably lucid for its philosophical ambition, making complex ideas in semantics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of mind accessible without sacrificing intellectual rigor. The work stands as a cornerstone of American philosophical thought, influencing fields as diverse as musicology, cultural anthropology, and literary criticism. For anyone who has ever wondered why art moves us, why music speaks when words cannot, and what truly distinguishes the human animal — this is the book that dares to answer.
Author: Susanne K. Langer
Format: Paperback
Published: 1976, Harvard University Press
Genre: Philosophy
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good. Jacket: No dust jacket. Page Condition: Yellowed, good. Markings: none. Binding condition: Binding intact.
At the intersection of philosophy, art, and human consciousness stands Susanne K. Langer's landmark work, Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art — a text that fundamentally reoriented 20th-century thinking about the nature of the human mind. Langer argues that symbolism, not rational discourse alone, is the foundational activity of the human mind, presenting a sweeping theory that unites language, myth, music, and ritual under a single philosophical framework. Drawing on the ideas of Ernst Cassirer and Alfred North Whitehead, she instructs the reader in a new way of seeing how meaning is constructed — not merely through logic and language, but through feeling, form, and symbol. Langer's prose is remarkably lucid for its philosophical ambition, making complex ideas in semantics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of mind accessible without sacrificing intellectual rigor. The work stands as a cornerstone of American philosophical thought, influencing fields as diverse as musicology, cultural anthropology, and literary criticism. For anyone who has ever wondered why art moves us, why music speaks when words cannot, and what truly distinguishes the human animal — this is the book that dares to answer.