The philosophical contributions of Ernst Cassirer to the understanding of culture as a manifestation of human thought are unmatched by any other philosopher of the first half of the 20th century. Cassirer presents a holistic view of cultural life that is astounding in its breadth and depth, drawing not only from philosophical traditions but also extensively from contemporary developments throughout the social and empirical sciences, and uniting all of these diverging currents within the great flow of intellectual and philosophical advancement of the entire Modern era. Throughout his own philosophical works Cassirer expresses an understanding of human activity as intrinsically unified, even within its diverse manifestations and apparently contrasting paths of development. This underlying link of all human activity is precisely its human origin: for Cassirer, man has no thought, experience, or activity that does not bear the intrinsic stamp of its internal source. The human being is the "animal symbolicum", the organism that expresses itself through the symbols of conscious life.1 Through an imposing presentation of philosophical, anthropological and scientific material, Cassirer powerfully justifies this fundamental
conviction with a vast body of evidence drawn from nearly every sphere of human life and conscious development.