The Broken Ring: A History and Theory of the Symbol

By Jean Borella

This work is regarded as the founding text of a new epistemology and may be read as an introduction to The Crisis of Religious Symbolism by the same author. It begins with a historical survey of theories of symbolism stretching from antiquity to the modern period, moves on to a critique of contemporary linguistic theory, and then turns to a ground-breaking structural analysis of the symbolic sign that uncovers a necessary but too long elided metaphysical dimension. In sum, it presents a theory of the symbol that seeks to restore, intelligibly, and in a way that transcends contemporary deconstructions, the ancient doctrines of both East and West. But make no mistake: this is philosophy, not ethnology. The symbolic sign is the nodal point of metaphysical thought, the place where nature becomes culture and culture becomes nature; that is, where being and meaning are reconciled without confusion. Such is the central concern of The Broken Ring.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G3HTLZNS
• ISBN13: 9798892801607
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Angelico Press
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 1.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"