DOCSLIB.ORG

Sex with Wittgenstein: Language, Narrative and Repetition in Duras, Sartre and Genet

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Sex with Wittgenstein: Language, Narrative and Repetition in Duras, Sartre and Genet SEX WITH WITTGENSTEIN: LANGUAGE, NARRATIVE AND REPETITION IN DURAS, SARTRE AND GENET by Zachary Alexander Moir BA, Taylor University, 2003 MA, Ohio University, 2005 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Dietrich School or Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2012 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Zachary Alexander Moir It was defended on December 3, 2012 and approved by Dr. Lina Insana, Associate Professor, French and Italian Dr. David Pettersen, Assistant Professor, French and Italian Dr. Todd W. Reeser, Professor, French and Italian Dr. Thomas Ricketts, Professor, Philosophy Dissertation Advisor: Giuseppina Mecchia, Associate Professor, French and Italian ii Copyright © by Zachary A. Moir 2012 iii SEX WITH WITTGENSTEIN: LANGUAGE, NARRATIVE AND REPETITION IN DURAS, SARTRE AND GENET Zachary Alexander Moir, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2012 This project argues for the usefulness of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s view of language as a lens through which to study literature in its use of the blurred-edged concept of “sex”. I examine this concept in relation to Marguerite Duras, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Jean Genet, in whose works sex and sexuality are prevalent, and play an essential role in narrative characterization and construction of self. Wittgenstein permits a reading of Duras that places her incestuous relationship with her brother at the center of her trilogy, Un barrage contre le Pacifique, L’Amant, and L’Amant de la Chine du Nord. The portrayal of incest asks us to reconsider the caring and salvific nature of an act that is often seen as repulsive. In Sartre’s Les Chemins de la liberté, Wittgenstein again permits us to shift focus and raise a previously under-appreciated aspect of the narrative to the limelight – the character of Daniel. This project brings Daniel to the level of unrecognized protagonist, arguing that his narrative is unique in making him the only character who can act in good faith in relation to sex. Lastly, a Wittgensteinian lens allows us to look at the abject sex that permeates the Genetian narratives Miracle de la Rose, Pompes funèbres, and Journal du voleur, to see a character, Jean Genet, that is concerned with iv knowledge of the world, and that encourages the reader to use his character as a mirror for seeing the world anew. “Self,” then, becomes the ultimate telos of the exploration of sex in the narratives of Duras, Sartre, and Genet. This is not surprising, since for these authors, sex is an activity that offers unique insight into their characters, and so explorations of sex cannot help but end up at questions of self-understanding. But more than just to the abstract relationship between self and sex that is expressed, the self is tied tightly to narrative, episodic encounters realized entirely on a linguistic surface. In this sense, then, talk of sexual practices leads to talk of self, and reveals self to be as blurred-edged a concept as sex. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ................................................................................................................................... viii 1.0 WITTGENSTEIN, KNOWLEDGE AND LITERARY SCHOLARSHIP ................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 A REFERENTIAL UNDERSTANDING OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE ....................................................................................................... 4 1.3 WITTGENSTEIN .................................................................................................. 6 1.4 THE PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS ..................................................... 9 1.5 THE BEGINNING OF THE INVESTIGATIONS ............................................ 12 1.6 FIXITY OF MEANING ...................................................................................... 16 1.7 ON WITTGENSTEIN’S REJECTION OF THEORIES OF LANGUAGE .. 27 1.8 MAKING ROOM FOR LITERATURE ........................................................... 30 1.9 LITERARY SCHOLARSHIP ............................................................................ 32 1.10 LOOKING AHEAD ............................................................................................ 46 1.11 GESTURING TO THE AUTHORS .................................................................. 50 2.0 “THEN YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE”: DURAS AND SEX AS A PAINFUL DELIVERANCE ................................. 52 2.1 REPEATING LOVE ........................................................................................... 52 2.2 THE DURASSIAN WORLD .............................................................................. 58 2.2.1 Bodies of Water ........................................................................................ 58 vi 2.2.2 The Waters of Baptism ........................................................................... 65 2.2.3 Writing and Repetition ........................................................................... 69 2.3 DURAS’S TRUTHS ABOUT SEX AND LOVE .............................................. 71 2.3.1 Incest: Reciprocity Instead of Unity ...................................................... 71 2.3.2 Set-Apart: Sex and Knowledge of Self ................................................... 74 2.3.3 Courage: Compassion and Salvation in Sex ......................................... 82 2.3.4 The Lover: Sex and Love as Transitional Space .................................. 91 2.3.5 Transgressive Love: The Relative Power of Sex ................................... 96 2.3.6 Language and Truth ................................................................................ 99 3.0 “ANGELS STAGGERING ON TENEMENT ROOFS ILLUMINATED”: SEX, FREEDOM AND GOOD FAITH IN LES CHEMINS DE LA LIBERTÉ ................ 102 3.1 DANIEL’S SPECIFICITY ............................................................................... 105 3.2 WHAT IS DANIEL DOING AND HOW DO YOU SAY IT? ....................... 110 3.3 THE POWER OF THE NON-NORMATIVE ................................................ 112 3.4 DANIEL AS EVIL ANGEL ............................................................................. 120 3.5 DANIEL ACCORDING TO WITTGENSTEIN ............................................ 127 3.6 GIDE, THE “PÉDÉRASTE PAR EXCELLENCE” ...................................... 130 3.7 DANIEL’S LETTER ......................................................................................... 135 3.8 MORE ON DANIEL AND THE SACRED: BATAILLE .............................. 138 3.9 DANIEL’S GOOD FAITH ............................................................................... 141 4.0 “CE MONSTRE DÉLICAT, - HYPORCRITE LECTEUR, - MON SEMBLABLE, - MON FRÈRE!”: GENET AS THE READER’S LOOKING GLASS ..................... 151 4.1 SAINT GENET ACCORDING TO SARTRE ................................................ 156 4.2 CONTRA SARTRE: JEAN GENET UNBOUND .......................................... 161 vii 4.3 JEAN GENET AND HIS MIRRORS .............................................................. 166 4.4 IDENTITY CRISIS AND ROYAL SELVES .................................................. 173 4.5 WITTGENSTEIN, SEX AND SELF ............................................................... 183 4.6 THE PRESENCE OF ABJECT SEX IN GENET .......................................... 185 4.7 ABJECT, ABEJCT SEX, AND MIRRORS .................................................... 192 4.8 REFLECTIVE SELF-CREATION IN GENET ............................................. 196 4.9 HOMOSEXUALITY AS IDENTITY: DANIEL’S FAILURE REVISITED ....................................................................................................... 204 5.0 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 208 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 221 viii PREFACE This dissertation was made possible, first and foremost, by the support and encouragement of my parents. Their love and optimism were a constant source of strength, as was their ability to take in stride the frustrations and trials that are a part of having a child in graduate school. It is a tribute to them that this degree has been completed at all. To Jamie Staples, whose eye for detail was almost as invaluable to finishing this project as was his love and support. I doubt very much that this dissertation would have been finished in such a timely manner, and with my sanity intact, were it not for him. To Dr. Charlotte Leforestier and soon-to-be Dr. Amy Romanowski who have, in France and the United States respectively, gone through the PhD at the same time as myself, and been an invaluable source of advice, encouragement, and empathy. To Dr. Georges-Claude Guilbert and Dr. Frédérique Fouassier, whose guidance while in France and after has provided great insight, perspective, and helped guard my sanity. To my committee – Dr. Lina Insana, Dr. David Pettersen, Dr. Todd Reeser, and Dr. Thomas Ricketts – whose patience and guidance have been invaluable. Of course, a deep thanks is owed ix to my advisor, Dr. Giuseppina Mecchia, for her continuous commitment, tireless support, and keen editorial eye. Dr. Mecchia’s creativity and thoroughness opened avenues of research that I would have been blind to otherwise. x 1.0 WITTGENSTEIN,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Method of Wittgenstein's Tractatus
    The Method of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus: Toward a New Interpretation Nikolay Milkov, University of Paderborn, Germany Abstract This paper introduces a novel interpretation of Wittgenstein‘s Tractatus, a work widely held to be one of the most intricate in the philosophical canon. It maintains that the Tractatus does not develop a theory but rather advances an original logical symbolism, a new instrument that enables one to ―recognize the formal properties of propositions by mere inspection of propositions themselves‖ (6.122). Moreover, the Tractarian conceptual notation offers to instruct us on how better to follow the logic of language, and by that token stands to enhance our ability to think. Upon acquiring the thinking skills that one can develop by working with the new symbolism, one may move on and discard the notation—―throw away the ladder‖ (6.54), as Wittgenstein put it. 1. The New Wittgensteinians This paper introduces a novel interpretation of Wittgenstein‘s Tractatus. In the process, it takes issue with the New Wittgensteinians, in particular Cora Diamond and James Conant,1 who some twenty-five years ago fielded a comprehensive, essentially skeptical interpretation of the entire body of the Tractatus. Diamond and Conant argued that the core propositions of the Tractatus are literally nonsense, gibberish equivalent to phrases like ―piggly wiggle tiggle‖ (Diamond, 2000, p. 151). To be more explicit, Diamond and Conant defended their view that the book‘s core content is philosophically vacuous by arguing (i) that the Tractatus is divided into a body and a frame; (ii) that the Preface, 3.32–3.326, 4–4.003, 4.111–2 and 6.53–6.54 compose the frame (Conant 2001, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein's Wayward Student: the Unauthorized Autobiography
    Wittgenstein’s wayward student: the unauthorized autobiography1 Annotated by Curtis Franks2 Note: Our hero has been confined until now to the space allotted him by other writers who only want to bounce their own ideas off of him because of their interest in the re- sulting trajectories. Quite reasonably he feels that he’s never been given a fair shake. His efforts to understand his critics turn up points where their arguments strike him as unconvincing or altogether absent. He delights in these discoveries, but his readers will see them instead as evidence of his own confusion and as clues to the sort of positions his critics adopt. When he meets another idealized character in Penelope Maddy’s Sec- ond Philosopher, he is intrigued by the difference in the treatment he receives. She raises many of the same questions that haunt him, the very considerations that others dismissed. But the answers she provides alienate him even more profoundly. Now that the impasse pervades everything from elementary logic to the higher infinite, new questions are met with a cool nonchalance. Struggling to fathom how she can carry on without the answers he seeks, he unwittingly reveals what sets the Second Philosopher’s position apart from related naturalistic accounts by chronicling how it leads him to confront the idleness of his demands. 1. First things I think the first thing you ought to know about me, if you’re going to appreciate much of what I have to say later on about my main scientific and philosophical agenda—the nature of logic and mathematics as it happens to be—is that I’m a lot older than I’m often made out to be.
    [Show full text]
  • Propositions, Functions, and Analysis This Page Intentionally Left Blank Propositions, Functions, and Analysis Selected Essays on Russell’S Philosophy
    Propositions, Functions, and Analysis This page intentionally left blank Propositions, Functions, and Analysis Selected Essays on Russell’s Philosophy PETER HYLTON CLARENDON PRESS · OXFORD 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Peter Hylton 2005 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles Ltd., King’s Lynn, Norfolk ISBN 0–19–928635–3 978–0–19–928635–5 13579108642 To the memory of Burton S.
    [Show full text]
  • Warren Goldfarb, Notes on Metamathematics
    Notes on Metamathematics Warren Goldfarb W.B. Pearson Professor of Modern Mathematics and Mathematical Logic Department of Philosophy Harvard University DRAFT: January 1, 2018 In Memory of Burton Dreben (1927{1999), whose spirited teaching on G¨odeliantopics provided the original inspiration for these Notes. Contents 1 Axiomatics 1 1.1 Formal languages . 1 1.2 Axioms and rules of inference . 5 1.3 Natural numbers: the successor function . 9 1.4 General notions . 13 1.5 Peano Arithmetic. 15 1.6 Basic laws of arithmetic . 18 2 G¨odel'sProof 23 2.1 G¨odelnumbering . 23 2.2 Primitive recursive functions and relations . 25 2.3 Arithmetization of syntax . 30 2.4 Numeralwise representability . 35 2.5 Proof of incompleteness . 37 2.6 `I am not derivable' . 40 3 Formalized Metamathematics 43 3.1 The Fixed Point Lemma . 43 3.2 G¨odel'sSecond Incompleteness Theorem . 47 3.3 The First Incompleteness Theorem Sharpened . 52 3.4 L¨ob'sTheorem . 55 4 Formalizing Primitive Recursion 59 4.1 ∆0,Σ1, and Π1 formulas . 59 4.2 Σ1-completeness and Σ1-soundness . 61 4.3 Proof of Representability . 63 3 5 Formalized Semantics 69 5.1 Tarski's Theorem . 69 5.2 Defining truth for LPA .......................... 72 5.3 Uses of the truth-definition . 74 5.4 Second-order Arithmetic . 76 5.5 Partial truth predicates . 79 5.6 Truth for other languages . 81 6 Computability 85 6.1 Computability . 85 6.2 Recursive and partial recursive functions . 87 6.3 The Normal Form Theorem and the Halting Problem . 91 6.4 Turing Machines .
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 5. Language: Private, Public, Solitary, Shared on the Received
    Chapter 5. Language: private, public, solitary, shared On the received reading of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations1, the book contains an argument purporting to show the impossibility of a private language. There has been a lively debate, however, on how the relevant notion of a private language is to be understood, and what considerations should be taken to rule it out. Some have understood Wittgenstein to mean that a language must be something that several speakers actually share, while others take him to mean that a language must be something that they could, in principle, share. Or, slightly differently put, on one view, speaking a language presupposes the actual existence of a linguistic community upholding certain shared standards of meaning and correctness, while on the other view, it only presupposes that such a community might have existed. These views have come to be known as the ‘community view’ and the ‘solitary speaker’ view, respectively.2 Furthermore, supporters of the community view tend to think that the discussion about privacy holds a central place in Wittgenstein’s later philosophy, whereas those who support the solitary speaker view usually see its bearings as limited to the issue of the privacy of experience. 1 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1958). References to this work will be indicated with the abbreviation PI followed by paragraph number. 2 Rather than two monolithic positions, what we have here is a spectrum of views ranging between two extremes. To mention but a few examples: the best-known formulations of the community view are to be found in Norman Malcolm, “Following a Rule” in his book Nothing is Hidden (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986), as well as in his essay “Wittgenstein on Language and Rules” in Wittgensteinian Themes: Essays 1978-1989 (ed.
    [Show full text]
  • Future Pasts
    FUTURE PASTS The Analytic Tradition in Twentieth-Century Philosophy Edited by JULIET FLOYD SANFORD SHIEH OXFORD VNWERSITY I'RSSS 2001 1879 Publication ofFr:ege's Begriffsschrift 1 Frege's Conception of Logic WARREN GOLDFARB Frege is of course an important progenitor of modern logic. The technical ad­ vances he made were compreheusive. He clearly depicted polyadic predication, negation. the conditional, and the quantifier as the bases of logic; and he gave an analysis of and a notation for t.he quantifier that enabled him to deal fully and perspicuously with multiple generality. Moreover. be argued that mathematical demonstrations, to be ti.illy rigorous, must be carried out using only explicitly for­ mulated rules, that is, syntactically specified axioms and rules of inference. Less clear, however. is the philosophical and interpretive question ofhow Frege understands his formalism and its purposes. Upon examination, it appears that Frege had a rather different view of the subject he was creating than we do nowa­ days. ln lectures and seminars as far back as the early 1960s, Burton Dreben called attention to differences between how Frege viewed i.he subject mauer of logic and how we do. The point has been taken up by several commentators, beginning with Jean van Heijenoort. 1 The technical development historically required to get from a Fregeau conception to our own was discussed in my "Logic in the Twenties: The Nature of the Quantifier."2 Yet there is currently litlle ap­ preciation of the philosophical import of these differences, that is, the role in Prege' s philosophy that his conception oflogic, as opposed to ours.
    [Show full text]
  • This Is Simply What I Do”
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Research Commons@Waikato 1 “This is Simply What I Do” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, vol. LXVI, no. 1 (January 2003) CATHERINE LEGG University of Melbourne Wittgenstein‟s discussion of rule-following is widely regarded to have identified what Kripke called “the most radical and original sceptical problem that philosophy has seen to date”. But does it? This paper examines the problem in the light of Charles Peirce‟s distinctive scientific hierarchy. Peirce identifies a phenomenological inquiry which is prior to both logic and metaphysics, whose role is to identify the most fundamental philosophical categories. His third category, particularly salient in this context, pertains to general predication. Rule-following scepticism, the paper suggests, results from running together two questions: “How is it that I can project rules?”, and, “What is it for a given usage of a rule to be right?”. In Peircean terms the former question, concerning the irreducibility of general predication (to singular reference), must be answered in phenomenology, while the latter, concerning the difference between true and false predication, is answered in logic. A failure to appreciate this distinction, it is argued, has led philosophers to focus exclusively on Wittgenstein‟s famous public account of rule-following rightness, thus overlooking a private, phenomenological dimension to Wittgenstein‟s remarks on following a rule which gives the lie to Kripke‟s reading of him as a sceptic. Introduction Wittgenstein noted that when we grasp a rule we grasp an idea that in principle outruns any set of particular applications of the rule.
    [Show full text]
  • Recent Work on Frege Michael Potter and Tom Ricketts. the Cambridge
    Recent Work on Frege Michael Potter and Tom Ricketts. The Cambridge Companion to Frege. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010. Pp. 639. (ISBN-13: 978-0-521-62479-4). Richard G. Heck, Jr. Frege’s Theorem. Oxford: Calrendon Press 2011. Pp. 308. (ISBN-13: 978- 0-19-969564-5). John Horty. Frege on Definitions. A Case Study of Semantic Content. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2009. Pp. 159. (ISBN-13: 978-0-19-973271-5). In the last fifteen years a fast increasing interest in the history of early analytic philosophy has manifested itself. Many a book or collection covers the ground between about 1879 (the appearance of Frege’s Begriffsschrift) and the 1930s. The Cambridge Companion series after some delay now involves a volume on Frege. This volume is not an introduction to Frege, but a ‘companion’ in the strict sense of supplementing and expanding one’s prior understanding of Frege. An introduction to Frege had to contain a systematic exposition of Frege’s theories, his formal systems, his important (logical) achievements and failures and might illustrate this with extensive quotes, as Frege is famous for his lucid style and argument. Surprisingly introductions to Frege in this style are hard to find. The Cambridge Companion to Frege certainly is no such introduction. It contains an introduction, but rather as a reminder on some central points of Frege’s doctrines. Some of Frege’s central theses (like those on sense and reference of an expression) are set out even for beginners in some of the articles, but many are not. What is strikingly absent in a volume on one of the founders of modern logic is a more comprehensive treatment of Frege’s formal systems (that in the book Begriffsschrift [Bs] and that in the book Grundgesetze der Arithmetik [GgA]) and his logicist treatment of arithmetic.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein's Tractatus
    Professor James Conant University of Chicago Department of Philosophy Winter Quarter, 2008 Philosophy 50118 Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Syllabus Course Description The course will be devoted to a careful reading of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and an examination of some of the central disputes in the secondary literature concerning it, with special attention to the so-called “resolute” or “austere” reading of the Tractatus. The aim will be to provide an overview of the philosophy of the early Wittgenstein, with special attention to the critiques of Frege and Russell, the structure and the method of the Tractatus as a whole, and especially some of the most hotly debated exegetical controversies recently surrounding the work. Some attention will also be given, especially at the end of the course, to the topic of the relation between the Tractatus and Wittgenstein’s later work. The Structure of the Seminar Some prior background in the history of analytic philosophy is desirable. The seminar is open to all, but intended primarily for graduate students in Philosophy. It will be taught with this latter constituency in mind as the primary audience. Some effort will be made in the opening weeks to introduce students to some of the basic background and central issues, and to point students who require orientation in these towards helpful secondary literature. Accordingly, anyone may audit the course, as long as they understand that the bulk of it will be taught at an advanced level. The first half of the course will be conducted primarily in a lecture format; and the second half primarily in a discussion format.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein and the Nonsense Predicament
    WITTGENSTEIN AND THE NONSENSE PREDICAMENT CONRAD WALD 2016 Wittgenstein and the Nonsense Predicament Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn vorgelegt von Conrad Wald aus Bergisch-Gladbach Bonn 2016 Gedruckt mit der Genehmigung der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn Zusammensetzung der Prüfungskommision: Vorsitzender der Prüfungskommision: Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Pieper Betreuer und Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Markus Gabriel Gutacher: Prof. Dr. James Conant Weiteres Prüfungsberechtigtes Mitglied: Prof. Dr. Michael Forster Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 02.09.2015 Abstract A single philosophical problem is developed, which will be called the nonsense predicament. The predicament arises because an argument from nonsense— which is an argument that aims to establish that some, or all, philosophical sen- tences are nonsense—cannot establish its conclusion, because of what will be called the nonsense paradox. This paradox has three parts, which establish that the argument from nonsense leads to (i) a regress, (ii) a contradiction, and (iii) the ineffability of nonsense. Insisting on the argument in the face of this para- dox leads to the fallacy that one insists on the sense of nonsense. It is argued that this predicament is solvable only by rejecting the argument in the first place. i My propositions elucidate in the following way: anyone who understands me eventually recognizes them as nonsensical, when he has used them—as steps—to climb up beyond them. (He must, so to speak, throw away the ladder after he has climbed up it.) He must overcome these propositions, and then he will see the world aright.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein's Anti-Scientistic Worldview
    Final draft of article published in Jonathan Beale and Ian James Kidd (eds.), Wittgenstein and Scientism (London: Routledge, 2017), pp. 59-80 (www.routledge.com/Wittgenstein-and-Scientism/Beale- Kidd/p/book/9781138829398) Wittgenstein’s Anti-scientistic Worldview Jonathan Beale A main source of our failure to understand is that we don’t have an overview of the use of our words. – Our grammar is deficient in surveyability. A surveyable representation produces precisely that kind of understanding which consists in ‘seeing connections’. … The concept of a surveyable representation is of fundamental significance for us. It characterizes the way we represent things, how we look at matters. (Is this a ‘Weltanschauung’?) (PI §122) This chapter outlines ways in which Wittgenstein’s opposition to scientism is manifest in his later conception of philosophy and the negative attitude he held toward his times. The chapter tries to make clear how these two areas of Wittgenstein’s thought are connected and reflect an anti-scientistic worldview he held, one intimated in the above passage. It is argued that the later Wittgenstein’s metaphilosophy is marked out against two scientistic claims in particular. First, the view that the scientific method is superior to all other means of learning or gaining knowledge. Second, the view that scientific knowledge is superior to all other kinds of knowledge and understanding. Wittgenstein’s opposition to these claims is brought out through examining a fundamental aim of his later philosophy, producing the ‘kind of understanding which consists in “seeing connections”’ (PI §122), and his attempts to expose certain philosophical confusions.
    [Show full text]
  • Russell and the Universalist Conception of Logic
    Russell and the Universalist Conception of Logic Russell is often said to have shared with Frege a distinctively “universalist” conception of logic.1 This supposed feature of his view is commonly taken to mark a deep contrast with contemporary conceptions of logic, and to be something from which important consequences flow. But although the universalist interpretation has been widely endorsed, its precise content remains elusive, and its accuracy, consequently, open to question.2 One sign of this elusiveness is the proliferation of glosses on the claim that for Russell “logic is universal.” Some commentators have meant by this that for Russell logic is a “universally applicable theory,”3 others, that it constitutes a “universal language,”4 still others, that its laws are “maximally general truths,”5 or that its principles are “all-encompassing.”6 Given such a wide variety of glosses, one has to wonder whether there can really be a single, unitary conception at which they all aim. If not, one wonders which of these characterizations, if any, latches on to something important and interestingly distinctive in Russell’s way of thinking about logic. The present essay is an attempt to investigate these questions. Its method will be to try to tease out the various ideas touched on in these glosses and to compare the results with Russell’s actual statements and commitments. Although the investigation is primarily historical, a number of substantive issues will be at stake: What are the prospects for using a conception of logic as “the body of
    [Show full text]