Abstract

Ernst Cassirer and Helmuth Plessner published their most important works in the 1920s. This paper explores the relations – both contentwise andmetho dological – between their conceptions of philosophy, contrasting the symmetrical terms ›anthropological philosophy‹ (Cassirer) and ›philosophical anthropology‹ (Plessner). The comparison focusses on the problem of philosophical self-reflexivity, which is central to the modern age of philosophy. When Plessner considers the basic concept of human lifeform (›eccentricity‹), it follows that the foundationand medium of philosophy is affected, while Cassirer develops his symbolicphilosophical approach recursively within the medium of history of philosophy.