[lit-ideas] Re: "The Austrian Engineer"
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:53:07 EDT
In a message dated 4/18/2009 1:50:57 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
'I asked Wittgenstein whether, when he wrote the _Tractatus_, he had ever
decided upon anything as an example of a "simple object". His reply was
that at that time his thought had been that he was a _logician_; and that it
was not his business, as a logician, to try to decide whether this thing or
that was a simple or complex thing, that being a purely _empirical_ matter!
It was clear that he regarded his former opinion as absurd.'
And you suggest this implies there was no problem or nothing problematic?
(It does not matter that W did not see a problem at some stage or only saw
it at a later stage: 'objectively', as with the contradiction at the heart
of Frege's work, there was surely a problem).----
-----
I take the problem was mainly cross-linguistic. Apparently Mrs. Malcolm
(and Mr. Malcolm) were, er, monolingual. Ditto, Witters, in my humble opinion.
So I think that what Witters says comes up as 'pretentious' to an anglo.
Variations on the theme by the Malcolms:
'I asked Wittgenstein whether, when he wrote the _Tractatus_, he had ever
decided upon anything as an example of a "simple object".
In direct terms this must have been:
MALCOLM. Ludwig. There's something I've been meaning
to ask you for some time.
WITTERS. Spaeter, Malcolm. Watching western now.
MALCOLM. But this _is_ urgent.
WITTERS (turns off television). What is it then.
MALCOLM. When you wrote the Tractatus.
WITTERS. I never wrote the Tractatus, the Tractatus _wrote_ me. Ich ware
sehr
SEHR junge dann.
MRS. MALCOLM (from Kitchen). Do you want some more popcorn, Lud?
WITTERS: Jah!
MALCOLM. Anyway, _then_, in the trenches, had you ever decided
upon anything ...
WITTERS (impersonating bombs and shells in the trenches). BOOM. SHOCK!
BOOM. That was all I had decided upon. To die, to sleep, perchance to dream.
MALCOLM. But on calmer nights, had you ever decided upon
anything as an example of a "simple object".
"His reply was that at that time his thought had been that he was a
_logician_;"
"In fact, he started crying desconsolately. My wife had to intervene.
'What
have you done to him, now?" "Nothing!"
Betweeen sobs, Wittgenstein said, "Logician -- Malcolm makes queer
questions.
Russell called me "engineer". I was _never_ ach ein engineer. Ich bin
logicus."
"... and that it was not his business, as a logician, to try to decide
whether this thing or that was a simple or complex thing, that being a purely
_empirical_ matter!"
"Empirische!" Bring me that hot popcorn, Missus!"
"I took that as the end of the conversation. From whence I have to
'recover' the implicature. It seems plausible today to interpret his utterance
then as a sign of he regarding his _former_ opinion 'absurd.'"
Cheers,
JLS
**************Access 350+ FREE radio stations anytime from anywhere on the
web. Get the Radio Toolbar!
(http://toolbar.aol.com/aolradio/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000003)
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
