Witti-Buch2 2001.Qxd

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Witti-Buch2 2001.Qxd Beiträge der Österreichischen Ludwig Wittgenstein Gesellschaft Contributions of the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society Editorial Board Elisabeth Leinfellner Rudolf Haller of Philosophy and the Future Wittgenstein A Reassessment afterYears 50 Werner Leinfellner Klaus Puhl Paul Weingartner der Philosophie und die Zukunft Wittgenstein Eine Neubewertung nach 50 Jahren 2 Volume IX (2) Band IX (2) 1 Wittgenstein und die Zukunft der Philosophie Eine Neubewertung nach 50 Jahren Beiträge des 24. Internationalen Wittgenstein Symposiums 12. - 18. August 2001 Kirchberg am Wechsel Band IX (2) Herausgeber Rudolf Haller Klaus Puhl Gedruckt mit Unterstützung der Abteilung Kultur und Wissenschaft des Amtes der NÖ Landesregierung Kirchberg am Wechsel, 2001 Österreichische Ludwig Wittgenstein Gesellschaft 2 Wittgenstein and the Future of Philosophy A Reassessment after 50 Years Papers of the 24th International Wittgenstein Symposium August 12 - 18, 2001 Kirchberg am Wechsel Volume IX (2) Editors Rudolf Haller Klaus Puhl Printed in cooperation with the Department for Culture and Science of the County of Lower Austria Kirchberg am Wechsel, 2001 Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society 3 Distributors Die Österreichische Ludwig Wittgenstein Gesellschaft The Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society Markt 63, A-2880 Kirchberg am Wechsel Österreich/Austria ISSN 1022-3398 All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2001 by the authors No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, and informational storage and retrieval systems without written permission from the copyright owner. Visuelle Gestaltung: Georg Lohmer (Entwurf des Grundlayout), Katja Hartmann (Layout Assistent), Sascha Windholz (Gesamtleitung Grafik), Oliver Zoihsl (Generallayout) Der Band ist gesetzt in den Schriften Arial und Times New Roman Druck: Copy 11, 1110 Wien 4 Inhalt / Contents Finitism and Symmetry 13 Jonas Larsson Wittgenstein and Other Minds 20 Yakir Levin Functions and Operations in the Tractatus 26 Eric Loomis The Silence After Kant 33 Charles W. Lowney Wittgenstein on Dissimulation and the Constitution of the Inner 39 Antonio Marques Wittgenstein, Metaphors, and Mental Concepts 45 Ken Maruta Wittgenstein and Teaching 51 Yasushi Maruyama Diamond's Wittgenstein and the Mute Philosopher 57 Anat Matar Setzungen: Wittgensteins Stil im Tractatus 64 Dieter Mersch The Aesthetic Turn: Wittgenstein, Cavell and 'Therapy 72 Thomas Meyer War Wittgenstein Hitlers "Jude aus Linz",wie Kimberley Cornish aus antipodischer Sicht meint? Kritische Gedanken zu einem krausen Buch 78 Hermann Möcker 5 Is Logic Syntax of Language? Carnap's Programme, Gödel's Critique, and Wittgenstein's Evasion 86 Brian David Mogck Ludwig Wittgenstein and Yorick Smythies. A hithero Unknown Relationship 92 Volker A. Munz Pragmatische und/oder dekonstruktive Wittgensteinlektüren? 98 Ludwig Nagl Gewißheit und befriedigendes Verstehen 104 Karl Nähr Language, Action, and Mind: Language-game and Attitude Ascription 111 Yasuo Nakayama Wittgenstein, the Ordinary and Certainty 117 Matteo Negro Autonome Grammatik - Linguistischer Idealismus ? Ein Versuch mit Wittgenstein und Peirce 122 Mariele Nientied The Color-Exclusion Problem Revisited 130 Yasushi Nomura Wittgenstein And Computationalism 136 S. Jack Odell Rule-Following and Explanation Transcendence 142 Cyrus Panjvani Truth and Taste 149 Fabrice Pataut Private Language: A Voiced Secret 155 David Pérez Chico & Moisés Barroso Ramos 6 Wittgenstein on Logical Necessity: Two Interpretations 161 Patrice Philie 5 Thesen zu der Entstehung und Eigenart der Philosophischen Untersuchungen 167 Alois Pichler Logic vs. Information - Two Approaches To Language 175 Jan Werszowiec Plazowski, Marek Suwara From Truth To Certainty 182 Albinas Plešnys Is Wittgenstein a Possibilist? 186 Jimmy Plourde Aggregatzustände des Wissens. Die Grundlagen der Wissenschaft im Lichte Wittgensteins Bemerkungen Über Gewißheit 193 Konstantin Pollok Environmental Holistic Ethics: Leopold and Callicot 202 Leszek Pyra Wittgenstein und die Cambridge-Theorie der Repräsentation 208 Josef Quitterer Wahrheit, Negation und Falschheit im Tractatus - Stenius' Erklärung des falschen Satzes 215 Ana María Rabe Logik, Datenbanken und Tractatus-Welt 223 Michael Rahnfeld Wittgensteins sogenannte Privatsprachenargumentation - Eine übersichtliche Darstellung 234 Adolf Rami 7 Wittgenstein and Freud 243 Roberto Rojo Was Mary nicht konnte... und was sie nicht wusste - Wittgensteins Beitrag zur Qualia-Dabatte 249 Tobias Rosefeldt Religious Truth and Realism in Wittgenstein and the Wittgensteinians 256 Jacob Joshua Ross Art, Opinions, and Attitudes 260 Simo Säätelä Philosophy As A Guide To Life? 266 Saurabh Sanatani Wittgenstein on Thoughts and Representations. 273 Priyambada Sarkar Through the Looking-Glass: The Problem of Wittgenstein's Point of View 278 Genia Schönbaumsfeld Wittgensteins Beichte 283 Monika Seekircher Wittgenstein's Legacy for the Self 290 Paul Smeyers Wittgensteins religiöser Determinismus 295 Ilse Somavilla Blinded By Words: Philosophy As The Mirror Of Confusion 304 Richard Sørli Wittgensteins Beitrag zur modernen Konzeption der narrativen Identität - Sein Einfluß auf die Philosophie Paul Ricœurs 310 Ruth Spiertz 8 The Incoherence of Wittgenstein's (Weak) Idealism 318 Lambert Vincent Stepanich Was sind Propositionen der Form "A glaubt (daß) p": Russell und Wittgensteins Kritik 324 Elena Tatievskaia Wittgenstein On Myth, Ritual And Science 329 Aydan Turanli Form(s) Of Life 336 Jaap van Brakel The Net Metaphor Reconsidered: Wittgenstein's Conception of Science in the Tractatus 342 Remko van der Geest How Dissolving The Rule-Following Paradox Can Give Philosophy A Future 347 Claudine Verheggen Remarks on Bernays vs. Wittgenstein 353 Risto Vilkko Der Philosoph als Fremdenführer - Anmerkungen zur Selbstbezüglichkeit von Wittgensteins Philosophieren 359 Klaus von Stosch Lofty Ladders, Rough Ground - Learning from Hacker vs. Diamond 366 Thomas Wallgren Wittgenstein und Kant zur Metaphysik 372 Heinrich Watzka 9 Is Wittgenstein a Foundationalist? 380 Michael Williams The importance of nonsense - Some Remarks on the Notion of Secondary Use of Words 386 Cato Wittusen Bioethik und das Problem absoluter Werte 393 Monika Wogrolly-Maani Wittgenstein und die indirekte Mitteilung 401 Jacek Ziobrowski 10 Beiträge / Papers 11 12 Finitism and Symmetry Jonas Larsson The Strong Programme of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge is more often than not discussed on the basis of its four methodological theses: causality, impartiality, symmetry and reflexivity. However, a closer reading of the works of David Bloor and Barry Barnes displays the significance of the hitherto much neglected thesis of finitism. These advocates of the Strong Programme are interested in finitism, which primarily is a thesis in the philosophy of language, because of its significance for the sociology of knowledge. The present paper investigates the significance of finitism with respect to concept application. It is fruitful to begin by examining Bloor's critique of rationalism. Bloor on Rationalism According to Bloor's paper Rationalism, Supernaturalism and the Sociology of Knowledge, the main problem with rationalism is its false belief that rules or concepts can be assigned explanatory status: Rationalism seems plausible because we think that rules and meanings furnish us with invisible rails which reach ahead of behaviour, giving guidance to those rational enough to intuit their presence. But we cannot make concepts or rules explain the activity of concept or rule users. It is the activity of the users, their habits and goals, which explain why a concept or rule is applied in the way it is. (1988: 69) In order to understand why the explanatory status of rules and concepts are of importance to the Strong Programme, the asymmetry of rationalism must be taken into account. Think for example about rational explanations of theory choice. Rationalists commonly assume that a scientist, in so far as s/he intends to choose the epistemologically superior theory, acts in accordance with the acknowledged principles of comparison and the available data and thereby makes correct judgements (with respect to the epistemic merits of the competing theories). One the other hand, if the scientist does intend to choose the superior theory but acts contrary to the principles of 13 Jonas Larsson comparison, then some non-rational factors, such as psycho-sociological factors, are assumed to override her/his predisposition to judge correctly, i.e. in compliance with the rule. Hence, given the pursuit of the epistemologically superior theory, rationalists conclude that psychological and sociological explanations are appropriate only when the relevant principles of comparison are applied wrongly (Newton-Smith 1981). At stake in Bloor's critique of rationalism is whether the rationalists can uphold their asymmetrical styles of explanation. The symmetry requirement, proposed by the Strong Programme, states that the sociologists should provide social explanations of actions, judgements, beliefs and inferences independently of whether the actions are rational or irrational, of whether the judgements and beliefs are true or false, or of whether the inferences are valid or invalid (Bloor 1991). I shall begin my investigation of finitism and its significance for a sociological understanding of concept application by explaining why Bloor rejects explanations based on rules
Recommended publications
  • Rethinking Fideism Through the Lens of Wittgenstein's Engineering Outlook
    University of Dayton eCommons Religious Studies Faculty Publications Department of Religious Studies 2012 Rethinking Fideism through the Lens of Wittgenstein’s Engineering Outlook Brad Kallenberg University of Dayton, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/rel_fac_pub Part of the Catholic Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Other Religion Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons eCommons Citation Kallenberg, Brad, "Rethinking Fideism through the Lens of Wittgenstein’s Engineering Outlook" (2012). Religious Studies Faculty Publications. 82. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/rel_fac_pub/82 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Religious Studies at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religious Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Note: This is the accepted manuscript for the following article: Kallenberg, Brad J. “Rethinking Fideism through the Lens of Wittgenstein’s Engineering Outlook.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 71, no. 1 (2012): 55-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11153-011-9327-0 Rethinking Fideism through the Lens of Wittgenstein’s Engineering Outlook Brad J. Kallenberg University of Dayton, 2011 In an otherwise superbly edited compilation of student notes from Wittgenstein’s 1939 Lectures on the Foundations of Mathematics, Cora Diamond makes an false step that reveals to us our own tendencies to misread Wittgenstein. The student notes she collated attributed the following remark to a student named Watson: “The point is that these [data] tables do not by themselves determine that one builds the bridge in this way: only the tables together with certain scientific theory determine that.”1 But Diamond thinks this a mistake, presuming instead to change the manuscript and put these words into the mouth of Wittgenstein.
    [Show full text]
  • David Suchoff Family Resemblances: Ludwig Wittgenstein As a Jewish Philosopher the Admonition to Silence with Which Wittgenstein
    David Suchoff Family Resemblances: Ludwig Wittgenstein as a Jewish Philosopher The admonition to silence with which Wittgenstein ended the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922) also marks the starting point for the emer- gence of his Jewish philosophical voice. Karl Kraus provides an instructive contrast: as a writer well known to Wittgenstein, Kraus’s outspoken and aggressive ridicule of “jüdeln” or “mauscheln” –the actual or alleged pronunciation of German with a Jewish or Yiddish accent – defined a “self-fashioning” of Jewish identity – from German and Hebrew in this case – that modeled false alternatives in philosophic terms.1 Kraus pre- sented Wittgenstein with an either-or choice between German and Jewish identity, while engaging in a witty but also unwitting illumination of the interplay between apparently exclusive alternatives that were linguistically influenced by the other’s voice. As Kraus became a touchstone for Ger- man Jewish writers from Franz Kafka to Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem, he also shed light on the situation that allowed Wittgenstein to develop his own non-essentialist notion of identity, as the term “family resemblance” emerged from his revaluation of the discourse around Judaism. This transition from The False Prison, as David Pears calls Wittgenstein’s move from the Tractatus to the Philosophical Investiga- tions, was also a transformation of the opposition between German and Jewish “identities,” and a recovery of the multiple differences from which such apparently stable entities continually draw in their interconnected forms of life.2 “I’ll teach you differences,” the line from King Lear that Wittgenstein mentioned to M. O’C. Drury as “not bad” as a “motto” for the Philo- sophical Investigations, in this way represents Wittgenstein’s assertion of a German Jewish philosophic position.
    [Show full text]
  • BWS Newsletter No 18 24/11/2015, 20:45
    BWS Newsletter no 18 24/11/2015, 20:45 From: British Wittgenstein Society [[email protected]] Subject: Newsletter no.18 BWS website home August 2013 BWS Newsletter Issue no 18 Contents Nota Bene The Wittgenstein-Skinner Archive Pdf version (216 kb) Nota Bene Arthur Gibson on Wittgenstein’s Conferences rediscovered archive Around the world Wittgenstein postings In early October 1941 German bombers Lecture series attacked Oakington RAF base. Victims Pastures new were rushed to hospital in Cambridge. Housekeeping The only slightly later admission of a Executive Committee polio patient was unnoticed, by-passed, being left untreated for very many hours in a corridor. This is how Wittgenstein’s closest friend Francis Skinner came to die at the age of 29. About BWS Within the week of Skinner’s funeral, in a state of trauma, Ludwig attempted to resign his Philosophy Chair; arranged to leave Cambridge for Guy’s Hospital working to fulfil his, now memorial, plan with Francis; attended Francis’ funeral; reclaimed from Skinner’s family the Wittgenstein- BWS is a British focal point for research and exchange Skinner Archive, and posted them to Skinner’s school of ideas among Wittgenstein scholars and students friend, Reuben Goodstein. Eventually Goodstein gave the throughout the world. Archive to the Mathematical Association. It was a much- appreciated invitation from the Association (and full This Newsletter will be sent exclusively to members of acknowledgement to it in references here), with the the BWS, on a regular basis, in order to draw attention support of Trinity College, for me to research and prepare to updates on the website, or to share as yet unpublished this unpublished Archive for book publication.
    [Show full text]
  • A REDUCTIVE READING of the TRACTATUS Interpretation of the Book Being About How to Defeat Skepticism
    2015 Umeå University, Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies Stefan Karlsson Supervisor: Andreas Stokke Examinor: Peter Melander Level: Bachelor’s thesis A REDUCTIVE READING OF THE TRACTATUS Interpretation of the book being about how to defeat skepticism. Content Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 5 Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 6 Traditional readings ................................................................................................................................. 7 Meta-physical interpretations ............................................................................................................. 7 Traditional readings of the nonsense concept in the Tractatus ......................................................... 8 The ineffable truth interpretation ................................................................................................... 8 What can be said and what can be shown ...................................................................................... 9 Modern readings ..................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Unity of Heidegger's Project
    REFERENCE ONLY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THESIS Degree fV\o Year Too£ Name of Author A-A COPYRIGHT This is a thesis accepted for a Higher Degree of the University of London. It is an unpublished typescript and the copyright is held by the author. All persons consulting the thesis must read and abide by the Copyright Declaration below. COPYRIGHT DECLARATION I recognise that the copyright of the above-described thesis rests with the author and that no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. LOANS Theses may not be lent to individuals, but the Senate House Library may lend a copy to approved libraries within the United Kingdom, for consultation solely on the premises of those libraries. Application should be made to: Inter-Library Loans, Senate House Library, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. REPRODUCTION University of London theses may not be reproduced without explicit written permission from the Senate House Library. Enquiries should be addressed to the Theses Section of the Library. Regulations concerning reproduction vary according to the date of acceptance of the thesis and are listed below as guidelines. A. Before 1962. Permission granted only upon the prior written consent of the author. (The Senate House Library will provide addresses where possible). B. 1962- 1974. In many cases the author has agreed to permit copying upon completion of a Copyright Declaration. C. 1975 - 1988. Most theses may be copied upon completion of a Copyright Declaration. D. 1989 onwards. Most theses may be copied. This thesis comes within category D.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein in Exile
    Wittgenstein in Exile “My thoughts are one hundred per cent Hebraic.” -Wittgenstein to Drury, 19491 Wittgenstein was born in 1889 into one of the richest families in Central Europe. He lived and learned at home, in Vienna, until 1903, when he was 14. We have no record of his thoughts about the turn of the last century, but it is unlikely that it seemed very significant to him. The Viennese of the time had little inclination to consider the possibilities of change, and the over-ripe era in which Wittgenstein grew up did not really end until Austria-Hungary’s defeat, in World War I, and subsequent dismantling. But the family in which Wittgenstein grew up apparently felt that European culture had already come to an end in the 1840’s. And Wittgenstein himself felt he belonged to an era that had vanished with the death of the composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856).2 Somewhere in the middle of the Nineteenth Century there was an important change into the contemporary era, of which Wittgenstein did not feel a part. Wittgenstein’s understanding of history, and his consequent self-understanding in relation to his times, was deeply influenced by Oswald Spengler, who in 1918 published The Decline of the West [Der Untergang des Abenlandes]. This book, expanded to a second volume in 1922, and revised in 1923, became a best-seller in post-war Europe. Wittgenstein made numerous references to it in 1930-1931, and acknowledged Spengler as one of his ten noteworthy influences.3 According to Spengler, cultures grow, flower, and deteriorate naturally, according to their own internal form, much as a human being does.
    [Show full text]
  • Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus</Em>
    University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 8-6-2008 Three Wittgensteins: Interpreting the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Thomas J. Brommage Jr. University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Brommage, Thomas J. Jr., "Three Wittgensteins: Interpreting the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" (2008). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/149 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Three Wittgensteins: Interpreting the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Thomas J. Brommage, Jr. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Co-Major Professor: Kwasi Wiredu, B.Phil. Co-Major Professor: Stephen P. Turner, Ph.D. Charles B. Guignon, Ph.D. Richard N. Manning, J. D., Ph.D. Joanne B. Waugh, Ph.D. Date of Approval: August 6, 2008 Keywords: Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, logical empiricism, resolute reading, metaphysics © Copyright 2008 , Thomas J. Brommage, Jr. Acknowledgments There are many people whom have helped me along the way. My most prominent debts include Ray Langely, Billy Joe Lucas, and Mary T. Clark, who trained me in philosophy at Manhattanville College; and also to Joanne Waugh, Stephen Turner, Kwasi Wiredu and Cahrles Guignon, all of whom have nurtured my love for the philosophy of language.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1889-1951) by Craig Kaczorowski
    Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1889-1951) by Craig Kaczorowski Encyclopedia Copyright © 2015, glbtq, Inc. Entry Copyright © 2004, glbtq, inc. Reprinted from http://www.glbtq.com The Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein is considered one of the most significant thinkers of the twentieth century, especially for his valuable contributions within the field of Linguistic Philosophy. His major works on language and linguistics include Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922), and Philosophical Investigations (1953), which was published posthumously. Early Life and Education Born Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein in Vienna on April 26, 1889, he was the youngest of eight children raised in a wealthy and cultured Jewish family. Initially educated privately at home, at the age of 14 he began attending a school in Linz, Austria that specialized in mathematics and natural science. In 1906, he went to Berlin to study mechanical engineering and two years later registered at the University of Manchester in England to study for his doctorate in engineering. Over time, however, Wittgenstein developed a greater interest in mathematics and mathematical logic, and he transferred to Trinity College, University of Cambridge, where he took courses from 1912 to 1913 given by the distinguished philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell. In November 1912, on the recommendation of fellow student John Maynard Keynes, Wittgenstein was elected to the elite Cambridge society known as the Apostles, which at that time had an aura of homoeroticism. This homoerotic atmosphere made Wittgenstein uncomfortable, however, and he stopped attending meetings. Finding Cambridge a less than ideal place to work, since he felt that his fellow academics lacked depth, Wittgenstein went to Skjolden in Norway and continued his mathematical and philosophical investigations in seclusion.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Solved by Sacrifice' : Austin Farrer, Fideism, and The
    ‘SOLVED BY SACRIFICE’ : AUSTIN FARRER, FIDEISM, AND THE EVIDENCE OF FAITH Robert Carroll MacSwain A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St. Andrews 2010 Full metadata for this item is available in the St Andrews Digital Research Repository at: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/920 This item is protected by original copyright ‘SOLVED BY SACRIFICE’: Austin Farrer, Fideism, and the Evidence of Faith Robert Carroll MacSwain A thesis submitted to the School of Divinity of the University of St Andrews in candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The saints confute the logicians, but they do not confute them by logic but by sanctity. They do not prove the real connection between the religious symbols and the everyday realities by logical demonstration, but by life. Solvitur ambulando, said someone about Zeno’s paradox, which proves the impossibility of physical motion. It is solved by walking. Solvitur immolando, says the saint, about the paradox of the logicians. It is solved by sacrifice. —Austin Farrer v ABSTRACT 1. A perennial (if controversial) concern in both theology and philosophy of religion is whether religious belief is ‘reasonable’. Austin Farrer (1904-1968) is widely thought to affirm a positive answer to this concern. Chapter One surveys three interpretations of Farrer on ‘the believer’s reasons’ and thus sets the stage for our investigation into the development of his religious epistemology. 2. The disputed question of whether Farrer became ‘a sort of fideist’ is complicated by the many definitions of fideism.
    [Show full text]
  • Being Qua Being
    OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRST-PROOF, 01/06/12, NEWGEN part iv BEING AND BEINGS 114_Shields_Ch14.indd4_Shields_Ch14.indd 334141 11/6/2012/6/2012 66:02:56:02:56 PPMM OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRST-PROOF, 01/06/12, NEWGEN 114_Shields_Ch14.indd4_Shields_Ch14.indd 334242 11/6/2012/6/2012 66:02:59:02:59 PPMM OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRST-PROOF, 01/06/12, NEWGEN Chapter 14 BEING QUA BEING Christopher Shields I. Three Problems about the Science of Being qua Being ‘There is a science (epistêmê),’ says Aristotle, ‘which studies being qua being (to on hê(i) on), and the attributes belonging to it in its own right’ (Met. 1003a21–22). This claim, which opens Metaphysics IV 1, is both surprising and unsettling—sur- prising because Aristotle seems elsewhere to deny the existence of any such science and unsettling because his denial seems very plausibly grounded. He claims that each science (epistêmê) studies a unified genus (APo 87a39-b1), but he denies that there is a single genus for all beings (APo 92b14; Top. 121a16, b7–9; cf. Met. 998b22). Evidently, his two claims conspire against the science he announces: if there is no genus of being and every science requires its own genus, then there is no science of being. This seems, moreover, to be precisely the conclusion drawn by Aristotle in his Eudemian Ethics, where he maintains that we should no more look for a gen- eral science of being than we should look for a general science of goodness: ‘Just as being is not something single for the things mentioned [viz.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein on the Nature of British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Philosophy J Wittgenstein and His Times
    @Basil Blackwdl Publisher Limitcd 1982 Contents Fiesr published 1982 Basil BlackwelJ Publisher Limited 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 IJF, England All rights rcserved. No part ofthis publicarion may bc reproduccd, stored in a retricval system, or trammitted. in an y form or hy any means. clcctronic, mcchanicaJ, photocopying. recording or otherwisc. withollt the prior permission of Basil Blackwell Publisher Limited. Editor's Preface v Anthony Kenny Wittgenstein on the Nature of British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Philosophy J Wittgenstein and his times. Brian McGuinness Freud and Wittgenstein 27 I. Wittgenstein, Ludwig I. McGuinness, Brian J. C. NYlri Wittgenstein's Later Work in '92 B)376.W)64 reiation co Conservatism 44 ISBN 0-63'-11161-1 Rush Rhees Wittgenstein on Language and Ritual 69 G. H von Wright Wittgenstein in relation to his Times 108 Index 121 Printe<! in Great Britain at Thc Blackwell Press Limitcd, Guildford, Landon, Oxford, Worcester. LATER WORK IN RELATION 1'0 CONSERVATISM 45 since Wittgenstein 's position in respect to the body ofconserva­ Wittgenstein 's Later Work in relation tive literature cannot be satisfactorily dctcrmined in the absence to Conservatism * ofa thorough analysis ofhis unpublished manuscripts. I Still, the interpretation here presented, cven ifmerely an approximation, C. Nyiri seems to me to constitute a necessary step towards a more J. complere pieture of Wittgenstcin's philosophy. Wittgenstein's later philosophy emerged at a time when conservatism - in tbe form of neo-conservatism - was one of the dominant spiritual currents in Germany and Austria; and Wittgenstein received decisive impulses both from authors who deeply influenced this The well-kno"vn fact that in Wittgenstein's later philosophy current and trom representatives ofthe I1ew conservatism itself.
    [Show full text]
  • Vol. 3 No. 1 January – June, 2014 Page the QUESTION of “BEING”
    Vol. 3 No. 1 January – June, 2014 THE QUESTION OF “BEING” IN AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY Lucky U. OGBONNAYA, M.A. Essien Ukpabio Presbyterian Theological College, Itu, Nigeria Abstract This work is of the view that the question of being is not only a problem in Western philosophy but also in African philosophy. It, therefore, posits that being is that which is and has both abstract and concrete aspect. The work arrives at this conclusion by critically analyzing and evaluating the views of some key African philosophers with respect to being. With this, it discovers that the way that these African philosophers have postulated the idea of being is in the same manner like their Western philosophers whom they tried to criticize. This work tries to synthesize the notions of beings of these African philosophers in order to reach at a better understanding of being. This notion of being leans heavily on Asouzu’s ibuanyidanda ontology which does not bifurcate or polarize being, but harmonizes entities or realities that seem to be contrary or opposing in being. KEYWORDS: Being, Ifedi, Ihedi, Force (Vital Force), Missing Link, Muntu, Ntu, Nkedi, Ubuntu, Uwa Introduction African philosophy is a critical and rational explanation of being in African context, and based on African logic. It is in line with this that Jonathan Chimakonam avers that “in African philosophy we study reality of which being is at the center” (2013, 73). William Wallace remarks that “being signifies a concept that has the widest extension and the least comprehension” (1977, 86). It has posed a lot of problems to philosophers who tend to probe into it, its nature and manifestations.
    [Show full text]