An approximation between the philosophies of Ernst Cassirer and Wilfrid Sellars

Abstract

This article aims to bring together, programmatically and in general terms, the philosophies of Ernst Cassirer and Wilfrid Sellars. They are two thinkers who, despite being in different traditions, have common theoretical influences, as well as systematic aspects that suggest following approximate guidelines. The text is divided into two main moments. Initially, I discuss a recently published article by professor Tobias Endres, from the Technical University of Braunschweig, entitled Ernst Cassirer's Influence on the Philosophy of Wilfrid Sellars, in the light of this work, I will point out and comment on some of the historical and textual clues that would justify a possible influence of the neoKantian thinker on the founder of the Pittsburgh school, limiting myself here to the more “external” and contextual aspects. Next, I move on to examining a more systematic aspect, namely, what we can assume as a “point of contact” between Cassirer’s philosophy and Sellars’ works, among which I highlight the following: for both, the question of meaning on which the relationship between mind and world is based is treated in functional terms.