Ernst Cassirer’s Philosophy of Symbolic Forms (PSF) primarily reflects on culture as a system of normative domains that are path-dependently configured. PSF elaborates on the domains of myth/religion, language, and science, but misses a discussion of the economy. By sketching a corresponding exposition, we contribute to the ongoing discussion of how economic science may investigate the world beyond utility functions. Our argument proceeds along historical and comparative lines with a ‘reciprocal comparison’ of the medieval economies of Europe and Japan. We thus approach the normative essence of economic thought and behaviour and test its variability in socio-cultural contexts diverging from ‘now’ and ‘here’. Our sketch of the economy as a symbolic form has important implications for the theoretical understanding of change in social systems. We argue that existing factors of change recognised in the economics discipline, such as fluctuations in supply and demand, and institutional innovation, critically require a superposition with patterns of cognition as they guide agents in their grasp of economic problems and, consequently, in their responses that shape material economies. We suggest that conceiving of the economy as a symbolic form makes these patterns of cognition accessible.

中文翻译：

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卡西尔象征形式理论中缺失的部分：经济

恩斯特·卡西尔（Ernst Cassirer）的符号形式哲学（PSF）首先将文化视为一种规范性领域的系统，这种体系是依赖路径进行配置的。PSF详细阐述了神话/宗教，语言和科学等领域，但却错过了有关经济的讨论。通过勾画出相应的论述，我们为经济科学如何超越效用函数研究世界的持续讨论做出了贡献。我们的论点是沿着历史和比较路线进行的，与欧洲和日本的中世纪经济体进行“相互比较”。因此，我们探讨了经济思想和行为的规范本质，并检验了其在不同于“现在”和“这里”的社会文化环境中的变异性。我们将经济作为一种象征形式的草图对社会制度变革的理论理解具有重要意义。我们认为，经济学学科中公认的现有变化因素（例如供求波动和制度创新）至关重要，因为它们可以指导行动者把握经济问题并因此做出反应，因此需要认知模式的叠加。决定物质经济。我们建议将经济视为一种象征形式，使这些认知模式可被使用。