Signal-symbol dichotomy in A.F. Losev's philosophy of symbolism

. Background. The present article deals with the problem of the correlation between the natural and the symbolic in its historical retrospective, which is topical for the research field of philosophy of culture. The symbol is understood in the broad sense of the word as a concept that fixes the ability of material things and events to express an ideal content different from their immediate bodily existence on the material of cultural-philosophical works of E. Cassirer and A.F. Losev. The identification of the common and special in the philosophy of the symbolic in the European and domestic philosophical tradition became the main goal of this work. For its realisation the following tasks were solved: the specificity of the natural-animal and human-sensual in Kassirer's theoretical research was revealed; the necessity of using such ancient terms as ‘symbol’, ‘otherness’, ‘eidos’, ‘energy’, etc. in the formation of the picture of symbolic reality in Losev's philosophy was pointed out. Materials and methods. The original literature used in this work includes the works of E. Cassirer, G. Gadamer, V.S. Soloviev, V.V. Zenkovsky, A.F. Losev. The methodological basis of the research was the application of the comparative cultural-historical method, hermeneutics in its philosophical and research interpretation. Additional literature was used in the historical-philosophical key. Results. The main results of the study include the conclusion of Cassirer's philosophical research on the distinction between the world of animals and the world of people through the study of the role, place and meaning of the sign and symbol. Human understanding of the world goes through linguistic forms, symbolism of myths and myth-making, artistic and aesthetic images. In other words, the symbolic permeates all forms and values of spiritual culture. In Losev's philosophy of the symbolic, the central link becomes the idea of the universe, which is reflected in the interrelationship of the One – Eidos – Myth – Symbol – Energy of essence – Person as intellectual. Conclusions. The main types of work include the position that at the beginning of the twentieth century the problem of the sign-symbolic entered the research field of philosophy of culture both in Europe and in Russia. The domestic philosophy of the symbolic found its reflection in the artistic creativity of the cultural figures of the Silver Age (senior symbolists Blok, Merezhkovsky, Gippius, etc.). For the creative atmosphere of the Silver Age, one of the significant problems was to clarify the role and significance of the Russian intelligentsia in the spiritual development of Russia. Today this question is once again on the agenda, becoming an urgent task of philosophy.