[Wittrs] Re: [C] The Third Wittgenstein
- From: John Phillip DeMouy <jpdemouy@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 23:27:53 -0400
Just an addition re: Moyale-Sharrock and post-Investigations
Wittgenstein.
It has been suggested that the late work, in contrast to PI, suffers
from a dearth of imagery and simile and even speculated that his health
issues and hormone treatments could have been a factor in this. A few
points:
1. Stylistically, that is a fair point. Some who most appreciates
those literary qualities might well appreciate these works less.
2. The post-Investigations material is largely brand new, created in a
very short span. The development of the PI was over an extended period,
with material and ideas going back to the early 1930s. And he wasn't
just revising ideas but their presentation as well. Hitting on a good
simile can take time and we in fact see them emerge individually in
various work preceding Philosophical Investigations. Their origins can
be traced over that period. Not hitting on as many brilliant similes
during the short period over which, e.g. On Certainty was composed is
not really surprising when that is considered. It doesn't demand
further explanation in terms of his health.
3. Philosophical Investigations can be considered a manifesto in some
respects. It not only demonstrated a method but it served as propaganda
for that method and introduced ideas central to that method. So tropes
that would be persuasive (propaganda) and memorable (didactic) were more
important. In contrast, On Certainty, Remarks on Colour, and other
post-PI works, though they also introduce new and important general
ideas, can be thought of as primarily applications of the new methods,
examples of his putting the methods to use on particular problems. The
same considerations don't apply.
4. Whether one appreciates this as much is a matter of taste, but
Moyale-Sharrock does an excellent job of demonstrating that
Wittgenstein's analytical acumen was as sharp as ever and that a great
deal of creative intelligence was also involved in this work.
Take care,
John
On Tue, 2011-05-24 at 19:00 -0700, Sean Wilson wrote:
> ... this looks like a pretty interesting book:
>
> http://books.google.com/books/about/The_third_Wittgenstein.html?id=IpPwVUaD0_gC
>
> Has anyone read it? Thinking about getting it.
>
> Regards and thanks.
>
> Dr. Sean Wilson, Esq.
> [spoiler]Assistant Professor
> Wright State University
> Personal Website: http://seanwilson.org
> SSRN papers:http://tinyurl.com/3eatnrx
> Wittgenstein Discussion:http://seanwilson.org/wiki/doku.php?id=wittrs
> [/spoiler]
>
>
>
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