Russian neo-Kantian philosophy of music in the early 20th century in the context of symbolic forms

In the expanding space of philosophical knowledge, in particular, aesthetics, epistemology, philosophical anthropology, and philosophy of culture, the philosophy of music, which is more than just art, is currently developing. As a rule, in Russian philosophical and aesthetic thought about music, A. F. Losev’s approach to the musical substance is preferred. This study focuses on the influence of neo-Kantianism on the development of philosophy of music in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. The goal was to present for the first time a neo-Kantian approach to the philosophy of music in the epistemological and anthropological aspects by such Russian neo-Kantian philosophers as I. I . Lapshin, who published the article «Philosophical Motifs in the Work of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov» in 1910, and G. E. Lants, who published the work «Philosophy of Music» on January 1, 1914. The article discusses the influence of E. Cassirer’s neo- Kantian idea of symbolic forms on semantic aesthetics, particularly on S. Langer’s aesthetics, which views music as a prasymbol of the rhythm of life and an «incomplete symbol» in the human mind. The methodological framework of this study is based on the method of reconstruction and comparative analysis. The scientific significance of this research lies in the first identification of the philosophy of music as a self-sufficient field of study in Russian philosophical thought at the beginning of the last century. From this perspective, a comparative analysis of philosophical thought about music is presented in the works of Russian neo-Kantians. The introduction outlines the conditions and emergence of philosophical works about music by Russian neo-Kantian philosophers. The central part consistently reveals the Russian neo-Kantian interpretation of the philosophy of music. The first section is devoted to the philosophy of symbolic forms as the basis of semantic aesthetics and the philosophy of music; the second section, which is central, is devoted to the neo-Kantian philosophy of music in Russia based on the works of Lapshin and Lants, which essentially anticipated the philosophy of symbolism. The influence of E. Cassirer’s symbolic concept on musicology is noted in the interpretation of musical form as a process, as exemplified by B. V. Asafiev. The conclusion confirms the commonality of the views of the neo-Kantians in their desire to address the problem of meaning-making in the cultural and historical process through the philosophy of symbolic forms and symbolic relations. At the same time, the value of the Russian neo-Kantian philosophy of music from the early 20th century is emphasized, which is significant for modern philosophical knowledge.