The book Philosophy in a New Key, published in 1942, nominated Susan Catherine Langer (1895-1985) among the leading American philosophers and aestheticians of the mid-twentieth century. The symbol, its specificity and structure, its role in various spheres of knowledge and culture, in philosophy, science, in artistic creativity, in myth and ritual - this is the range of issues raised by the author. The originality of the point of view, the use of extensive and diverse factual material, the ability to challenge the reader to reflection cannot but draw attention to the book, which is being translated into Russian for the first time. For readers interested in the history and state of modern philosophy.