Stephen Barkley
It’s rare to see someone make a complete about-face, but that’s precisely what Wittgenstein did.
In his first work, the dense and enigmatic Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Wittgenstein argued that all of the problems of philosophy can be solved with a proper understanding of language. Both language and the world share a common structure. The ‘world’ consists of ‘facts’ which consists of ‘state of affairs’ which consists of ‘objects.’ Corresponding to this, ‘language’ consists of ‘propositions’ which consists of ‘elementary propositions’ which consists of ‘names.’ Each of the levels of the world correspond to elements of language. Everything in this system is neat and tidy.
As mathematically pleasing and precise as the Tractatus was, Wittgenstein would later argue against it (see especially his Philosophical Investigations). Tractatus was built on the idea that language has a unitary nature which can be reduced to simple statements of fact such as the tree is green. This is a caricature of language! In his later philosophy, Wittgenstein would speak of language games. Language has no unitary nature, but consists of a variety of activities. “We use language to describe, report, inform, affirm, deny, speculate, give orders, ask questions, tell stories, playact, sing, guess riddles, make jokes, solve problems, translate, request, thank, greet, curse, pray, warn, reminisce, express emotions, and much else besides” (83).
Grayling holds nothing back in his criticism of Wittgenstein, even as he expounds his philosophy.
Like many others, I cannot help being struck by the unusual character of Wittgenstein’s writings, which give a strangely original cast even to thoughts and points of view which, in more prosaic dress, are familiar enough. But I find that when one advances beyond the manner and reflects on the content, the irresistible feeling is this: that the journey through Wittgenstein’s circuitous, metaphorical, sometimes opaque negations and suggestions is long; but the distance it takes one is short. (134)
#philosopherburn
This is the fifth book I’ve read in Oxford’s “A Very Short Introduction” series. The quality of writing in these books is consistently high and Wittgenstein is no exception. Grayling explains Wittgenstein’s life and ideas without oversimplifying or needlessly muddying the waters.
Other books in the series include:
Grayling, A. C. Wittgenstein: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, 2001.
