Animals’ Signs and Man’s Symbols: Mutual Influence of J. von UexküIl’s and E. Cassirer’s Ideas

Abstract

Some ways of mutual influence of the theoretical biology of Jakob von UexküIl and the philosophy of symbolic forms of Ernst Cassirer are discussed in the article. Although Cassirer to a large extent emphasized the differences between the human world as the world of a symbolic being from the animal world as the world of an organism whose behavior is built due to its ability to recognize signs and signals described by UexküIl, Cassirer's attention to the important concept of Umwelt introduced by UexküIl allowed him to detail and refine his theoretical conception. Both scientists fruitfully developed and applied interdisciplinary research strategies: Cassirer, realizing his genuine interest in theoretical biology, and UexküIl, extending his concept of Umwelt to the human world.