[lit-ideas] Re: Philosophical Investigations online
- From: Phil Enns <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:44:11 -0400
Robert wrote:
"Despite Phil's posting some paragraphs from Samuel Wheeler's book in
which the two are compared, I'd have to say, flat out, that
Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations cannot be put in a
nutshell or stuffed into any other epitomizing device; no more can the
Tractatus, although it usually gets ignored when one tries to compare
Wittgenstein's work with something else."
The fact that the works of Wittgenstein cannot be "put in a nutshell"
does not mean that they cannot be compared to the writings of other
philosophers. PI and TLP belong to the philosophical tradition and
therefore necessarily stand in relationships to other philosophical
texts. A responsible philosophical reader of Wittgenstein will
acknowledge the complexity of these texts while also acknowledging
that they are not sui generis.
If PI and TLP, due to their inability to be easily summarized, cannot
be compared to any other philosophical texts, then why is this not
true of most other classical philosophical text, like Plato's
'Republic' or Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason'? To suggest that the
writings of Wittgenstein should be treated differently from other
philosophical texts strikes me as being unhelpful. The style of TLP
and PI may be different from the First Critique, but so also is the
'Republic'.
Pointing out the similarities between Wittgenstein and Derrida may not
capture the whole of either Wittgenstein's or Derrida's thought, but
it can prove helpful in clarifying a perspective on a particular issue
that has occupied the philosophical tradition for millennia. With this
end in mind, I have trouble understanding Robert's resistance to
comparing the writings of Wittgenstein to the writings of other
philosophers.
Sincerely,
Phil Enns
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