NOTION OF RACE IN THE GENESIS OF THE MYTH

• Grant number: 24/15847-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Rafael Rodrigues Garcia
• Grantee: Francisco Gustavo de Souza Flor
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/03210-5 - Ernst Cassirers late philosophical program: the legacy of the symbolic in the construction of the common world, AP.PNGP.PI

Abstract

For this project, we will investigate the conditions under which the notion of race can be understood in terms of Ernst Cassirer's philosophy, and position the relationship between myth and race in Cassirerian philosophy. In his theoretical philosophy, Cassirer places myth as one of the first stages in the human construction of objectification, and it returns centrally in The Myth of the State (1946). Myth carries with it a paradigm shift: its elementary form takes on a new methodological development and its logical unity, which used to take place only in substantial orderings, now shifts to a functional structure, gaining a relational aspect of the concept. This new functional structure tends towards a set of new logical rules that make it possible to base all symbolic manifestations and gives a systematic character to Cassirerian philosophy. Considering these aspects, we note that the concept of race is approached by Cassirer in its elementary mythical notion. According to the author, the field of politics has undergone serious changes and mythical power has become the guiding element of discussion instead of rational thought. By identifying this methodological characteristic, we thought we would dissect the problem of race in the genesis of myth and establish a solid basis for the discussion of race in Cassirer, taking into account A) his historical relationship between his youth and late texts, B) his theoretical aspect, where Cassirer dedicated himself to the study of myth mainly in Philosophy of Symbolic Forms (1924), C) the advance of the discussion of race in an aspect little explored in Cassirer's philosophy and in the neo-Kantian niche as a whole.