Abstract
The intention of the book is to show how Wittgenstein changed his philosophical orientation and reinvented both his intellectual methods and himself in two key phases of his life. The first was the period of his “anthropological turn” (1929–1932). In these years, Wittgenstein developed his central arguments concerning the role of the body in the acquisition of language and the rules of social practice. The second key phase was after the Second World War, when Wittgenstein became preoccupied by inner events. In an overview of the topics of the book, Gebauer discusses key concepts of Wittgenstein’s anthropology.
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Notes
- 1.
WA III, p. 113.
- 2.
Unlike Heidegger, Wittgenstein did not pursue the project of a middle-class vocation, for example, by trying to climb the academic career ladder. It is impossible to imagine Wittgenstein having a spouse at his side who was driven by fears of downward social mobility (see H. Ott 1988). For Wittgenstein, the striving for higher social status conflicted with his aristocratic attitude that money and career were unimportant. This lack of professional ambition accounts for some of the confusing aspects of his character.
- 3.
In a remark from the year 1931, he draws a parallel between his new mode of thought and the political changes sweeping Europe: “Is my way of thinking, with the disintegration of the great nations into small, independent ones, connected with the respect for minorities // emergence of minorities //?” WA V, p. 46, the remark is placed in parentheses (the typographical characters are markings in the text).
- 4.
One example of Wittgenstein’s new attitude after finishing the Tractatus is a passage from a letter to Engelmann of August 20, 1920 from Klosterneuburg, where he had worked as a gardener’s assistant prior to his job as a public school teacher: “My stay in Klosterneuburg now draws to a close; in three days I move back to Vienna and await my appointment. The gardening work was undoubtedly the most sensible thing I could have done during the summer holidays. When the work is done in the evening, I am tired and then do not feel unhappy.” (Wittgenstein – Engelmann, p. 58)
- 5.
According to Pierre Hadot, Wittgenstein’s ideas are grounded in the philosophical tradition of antiquity. “Life” is an “action d’être,” an “activity of being that, taken on its own, is devoid of all substantiality” (Hadot 2001, p. 206).
- 6.
In an important 1977 essay, “L’animal cérémoniel: Wittgenstein et l’anthropologie” Jacques Bouveresse points out that Wittgenstein devoted himself above all to anthropology (p. 47), quoting as evidence of this PI §415: “What we are supplying are really remarks on the natural history of human beings…”
- 7.
See also RoF, p. 9e.
- 8.
First instance: January 13, 1930, MS 107, p. 243.
- 9.
von Goethe (1988), p. 57.
- 10.
Ibid, p. 58.
- 11.
- 12.
This is equally true of the Bergen Electronic Edition, which provides access to Wittgenstein’s entire literary estate.
- 13.
See Malcolm 1984, p. 65.
Other Authors
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Gebauer, G. (2017). Introduction. In: Wittgenstein's Anthropological Philosophy. History of Analytic Philosophy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56151-6_1
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