Drafts by Norbert Andersch
Cassirer in Contexts, 2023
I remember this very well: during the last decades of the 20th century the philosophical discours... more I remember this very well: during the last decades of the 20th century the philosophical discourse had (at times) a devaluing, arrogant and patronizing approach to Ernst Cassirer's work: he was called 'a philosopher of culture' and his books were most likely to be found not on the philosophy shelves of libraries but in the arts section. Seen from today this might have been a real badge of honour (Auszeichnung); in these years it clearly was not. The hidden message was: Ernst Cassirer's philosophy is outdated. His impact on continental philosophy cannot compete with Heidegger, Wittgenstein or Husserl; his thoughts maybe sufficient in inspiring some students in arts and culture, but that's about it.
Towards a "Riemann' turn" in the theory of psychopathology
European Psychiatry, Apr 1, 2008
Background: In the mid 19th century 'Euclidian Geometry'found itself replaced by a group ... more Background: In the mid 19th century 'Euclidian Geometry'found itself replaced by a group of previously unimaginable spheres: the "Riemann' Geometries". Only this radical shift of paradigm from the obviousness of concrete practice into the abstract worlds of relational and symbolic order allowed Einstein's and Maxwell's theories to emerge and modern mathematics to be developed. Psychopathology is in urgent need of a comparable turn - beyond the narrow field of clinical observation towards a theory of 'mental formation' - only from which a concept of mental illness can be deducted. Method: The presentation reconstructs an interdisciplinary network towards a "New Psychopathology", including Kurt Goldstein, Arthur Kronfeld and Kurt Lewin, relocating psychopathological observation away from the brain to the relational order between the individual and its environment. Their joint theoretial approach was based on Ernst Cassirer's "Philosophy of Symbolic Forms", applying the ideas of change in mathematival perspectives to mental complexity and cultural development - and: its pathological disorders. Results: "Symbolic Forms" emerge as magic, myth, language, religion, law, politics, science, the arts and others. They are transcultural universal phenomena which can be seen as "invariants" in a "Matrix of Mental Formation".This cultural construct breaks down in mental crisis. Conclusion: Psychiatric illness is always connected to a breakdown of "Symbolic Formation". Its typical symptoms are not a lack of organic function - but derive from an inability to manage its complex 'meanings'in the constant change of parallel frames of reference. A structural concept(MATRIX) is presented as an underlying relational order to psychopathological classification.
Bloomsbury Semiotics Vol.2, 2022
The international congress on 'The Symbolic Construction of Reality' in Tokyo (2016) came up with... more The international congress on 'The Symbolic Construction of Reality' in Tokyo (2016) came up with the following statement: The concept of 'symbol' is without doubt in the core of the theoretical framework of the human sciences. Its relevance is beyond question and a great variety of differing notions of the symbol were developed by social behaviorists, pragmatists, cultural anthropologists, psychoanalysts, literary theorists, philosophers of life, semioticians and many more. In order to highlight the significance of symbols for the constitution of human life, (the philosopher) Ernst Cassirer defined the human being as 'animal symbolicum' (Cassirer 1944), because he considered the concept of rationality as inadequate to describe human cultural forms and realities. Yet, it remains unclear how these theoretical positions are connected to each other and to what extent they can be combined with each other. Furthermore, a concise and systematic theoretical examination of the concept of symbol is rather underrepresented.
World Psychiatry
Dear Colleagues,
following the turn of the millennium and facing growing criticism the WHO and D... more Dear Colleagues,
following the turn of the millennium and facing growing criticism the WHO and DSM Working Groups have realized "that there is a need to resolve or at least to face some fundamental questions…(on the) treatment or on a particular hypothesis about mental functioning" (Sartorius 2002:74/75). Fifteen years on, in the June 2018 Editorial of "World Psychiatry", its Editor Mario May concludes: "It is becoming increasingly evident that the usefulness of diagnostic categories in psychiatry has been overemphasized. These categories have been initially charged with implications in terms of pointing to a specific treatment and prospectively a specific etiology and/or pathogenesis […]The fact is, however, that these implications are less significant than originally believed and still assumed by most treatment guidelines. Up to now the first step (diagnosis) has received a lot of attention, […] whereas the second step (further characterization of the individual case) has been largely ignored […]. In addition […] to a given diagnosis […] we should start to promote the construction and validation of tools guiding the clinician systematically in the characterization of the individual case,…".
Having worked as neurologist and clinical psychiatrist for several decades my view is that a semiotic /symbolic approach to psychopathology could well turn out to be one of these tools.
Recent biosemiotic research highlights the fact that "human individuation is (...) a double-track... more Recent biosemiotic research highlights the fact that "human individuation is (...) a double-tracked process, consisting in an incessant reconciliation or negotiation between the virtual reality that we have constructed in our minds and mind-independent reality as it impresses itself upon our lives. Human life cannot therefore be defined by its uniqueness as a particular genetic combination, but must instead be defined by its uniqueness as a temporal outcome of semiotic individuation." (Hoffmeyer, 2015)* Semiotic individuation was at the core of Ernst Cassirer's "Philosophy of Symbolic Forms" (1925/27/29)**. His unique approach to view 'symbolic formations' like magic, myth, religion, law, science, the arts and others as universal 'mediators' within the variable and developing levels of human worldmaking (which define the make-up of language and consciousness) was to philosophically anticipate the very idea which biosemiotic research is confirming today. A synthesis of psycho/biosemiotics and Cassirer's symbol-theories can open up an entirely different approach to human interaction and consciousness, thus setting a different compass point for our theoretical attitude to psychopathology. This may help in opening up those hidden fundaments and secretly determining factors within the puzzling and contradictory phenomenology of psychiatric symptoms. Título da Apresentação: " Para uma Síntese entre Psiquiatria e Semiótica " Resumo: A pesquisa recente em biossemiótica realça o facto de que " a individuação humana é (...) um processo que assenta em duas trajectórias, consistindo numa incessante reconciliação ou negociação entre a realidade virtual que nós construímos nas nossas mentes e a realidade independente da mente à medida que se inscreve nas nossas existências. A vida humana não pode, por conseguinte, ser definida pela sua unicidade como uma combinação genética particular, mas deve, em vez disso, ser definida pela sua unicidade enquanto produto temporal da individuação semiótica " (Hoffmeyer, 2015). A individuação semiótica encontrava-se no âmago da " Filosofia das Formas Simbólicas " de Ernst Cassirer (1925/27/29). A sua abordagem única para compreender 'formações simbólicas' como a magia, o mito, a religião, o direito, a ciência, as artes e outras enquanto 'mediadores' universais no interior dos níveis variáveis e em contínuo desenvolvimento da actividade humana de construção de mundos (que definem a tessitura da linguagem e da consciência) estava em condições de antecipar filosoficamente a ideia mesma que a investigação em biossemiótica hoje confirma. Uma síntese entre psico/biossemiótica e as teorias do símbolo de Cassirer pode inaugurar uma abordagem inteiramente diferente à interacção humana e à consciência, fornecendo deste modo uma orientação distinta para a nossa atitudeteórica relativamente à psicopatologia. Isto pode ajudar a revelar os fundamentos e factores secretamente determinantes no interior da intrigante e contraditória fenomenologia dos sintomas psiquiátricos.
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Drafts by Norbert Andersch
following the turn of the millennium and facing growing criticism the WHO and DSM Working Groups have realized "that there is a need to resolve or at least to face some fundamental questions…(on the) treatment or on a particular hypothesis about mental functioning" (Sartorius 2002:74/75). Fifteen years on, in the June 2018 Editorial of "World Psychiatry", its Editor Mario May concludes: "It is becoming increasingly evident that the usefulness of diagnostic categories in psychiatry has been overemphasized. These categories have been initially charged with implications in terms of pointing to a specific treatment and prospectively a specific etiology and/or pathogenesis […]The fact is, however, that these implications are less significant than originally believed and still assumed by most treatment guidelines. Up to now the first step (diagnosis) has received a lot of attention, […] whereas the second step (further characterization of the individual case) has been largely ignored […]. In addition […] to a given diagnosis […] we should start to promote the construction and validation of tools guiding the clinician systematically in the characterization of the individual case,…".
Having worked as neurologist and clinical psychiatrist for several decades my view is that a semiotic /symbolic approach to psychopathology could well turn out to be one of these tools.