ARCHETYPES AS SYMBOLIC FORMS

In Jung's psychology, archetypes are biologically inherited supra-indi vidual predispositions of the collective unconscious, and in this pape r this controversial theory of archetypes is evaluated in the context of Ernst Cassirer's philosophy of symbolic forms. The main thesis of t he author is that with the help of the Cassirerian approach, archetype s can be understood as culturally determined functionary forms organiz ing and structuring certain aspects of man's cultural activity, namely those predominantly non-cognitive (for example, emotional, numinous, pathological) mental aspects of human life, which remain more or less unarticulated due to their non-discursive nature. The revision the aut hor is proposing revolves around the notion that the archetypal theory can be removed from the rather unfruitful discourse on the genetic in heritance of archetypes. When archetypes are seen as symbolic forms, J ung's theory is in a position to make a potentially valuable contribut ion to hermeneutical and cultural studies, as archetypes function in t his new context as active constituents of human experiences, which giv e these experiences a non-discursive, symbolic form. Thereby, archetyp es can become accessible to historical and cultural analyses, and herm eneutical inquiry into the manifold symbolism of mental (including unc onscious) phenomena can be enriched.