[C] [Wittrs] Did Religion Affect the Tractatus?
- From: Sean Wilson <whoooo26505@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:25:39 -0800 (PST)
One of the interesting questions that has been raised is whether religion had
an effect on Wittgenstein when writing the Tractatus. We all know what affect
spirituality had upon later Wittgenstein, but what about early? Here are some
accounts:
1. Although Wittgenstein was agnostic in Cambridge, he became quite religious
during his stint in World War I, as early, I believe, as 1914. Ray Monk
attributes this to reading Tolstoy's Gospel in Brief. He says it saved
Wittgenstein from suicide (115) and that Wittgenstein "carried it wherever he
went, and read it so often that he came to know whole passages of it by heart.
He became known to his comrades as 'the man with the gospels.' For a time he
... became not only a true believer, but an evangelist, recommending Tolstoy's
Gospel to anyone in distress. (116). Monk continues:
"... this fervently held faith was bound to have an influence on his work. And
it eventually did -- transforming it from an analysis of logical symbolism in
the spirit of Frege and Russell into the curiously hybrid work which we know
today, combining as it does logical theory with religious mysticism." (116)
2. When stationed near the Russian border toward the end of March 1916,
Wittgenstein writes (I think in his journal), "God enlighten me. God enlighten
me. God enlighten my soul." (137). After the Brusilov Offensive which resulted
in many Austrian casualties to Wittgenstein's regiment, Monk notes, "it was
precisely this time that the nature of Wittgenstein's work changed." (He
continues on 140-141 with reflections about God and the meaning of life).
3. There is an important notebook entry on July 8th: "To believe in a God means
to understand the meaning of life. To believe in God means to see that the
facts of the world are not the end of the matter. To believe in God means to
see that life has a meaning. The world is given me, i.e., my will enters the
world completely from the outside as into something that is already there."
(141)
HERE IS THE POINT:
Wittgenstein's inclusion of the mystical in the Tractatus happen at this point
in his life. Props 6 are derived from these experiences. Hence, we now have a
better understanding of the following:
1. That the mystical shows itself, but cannot be asserted as a proposition.
That ethics and aesthetics operate in this realm as well. And that these
matters are different from other kinds of assertions that cannot be
propositions -- namely, simple nonsense or senselessness. That is, if a
metaphysical statement is not under the rubric of spirituality, ethics, or
aesthetics -- and if it is not of a devout sort of thing that is felt (shown)
in the form of life -- then it seems to have a more harsh status.
Here is what I want to say. Before the mystical is retrofitted into the
Tractatus, you have something that the Vienna Circle can claim as a legitimate
vehicle for dissing metaphysics. But after the mystical is added, you seem to
have TWO KINDS OF METAPHYSICS. Only if metaphysics shows itself in the form of
life and is a kind of devout form of spirituality, a refined aesthetic or a
deeply felt ethic, is it given the status of being from "outside the world" and
is thus potentially LARGER than propositions. But our form of life
cannot assert them as such. And that they therefore require silence (in
assertion). Metaphysical statements that do not fit this rubric are more harsh
-- a kid of "gas," I would think.
So Christian spirituality may indeed have a higher place in Tractarian thought
compared to other kinds of metaphysics.
Dr. Sean Wilson, Esq.
Assistant Professor
Wright State University
Personal Website: http://seanwilson.org
SSRN papers: http://ssrn.com/author=596860
Discussion Group: http://seanwilson.org/wittgenstein.discussion.html
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