Ontological and Epistemological Function of Mythical-Religious Consciousness in the Philosophy of Ernst Cassirer and Mircea Eliade

Summary

This article presents the concept of mythical-religious consciousness, highlighting its ontological and epistemological significance through the works of Ernst Cassirer and Mircea Eliade. Despite their differing views on myth and religion, both thinkers share a common ground in their non-reductionist approaches. The study aims to synthesize perspectives from various disciplines, including anthropology and 4E cognition, to offer a more coherent understanding of these concepts while avoiding oversimplification.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the concept of mythical-religious consciousness and present its ontological and epistemological significance through the meaning-giving aspect of myth and the category of the sacred as demonstrated by Ernst Cassirer and Mircea Eliade. Regardless of the significant differences in the understanding of myth and religion of both thinkers, we shall try to present the common ground, which we believe they have shared within the bounds of their antireductionist and anti-Cartesian attitudes towards the subject of myth. We shall supplement this perspective with the hermeneutical philosophy of Paul Ricoeur (and others) to make this more coherent within the broader field of anthropology. In doing so, we hope to establish a synthetic perspective for such study, rather than relying on analysis and criticism alone. As such, this will be a trans-disciplinary study of literary sources on the intersections of ontology, epistemology, linguistics, psychology, sociology and religious studies, which exposes itself for a critique of oversimplification from all the disciplines listed. Finally, we shall also attempt to make this study more relevant by reference to the ongoing research in 4E cognition.