May 10th Topic: Logical Irrationalism

NEW LOCATION: 7 Temple St, Cambridge, MA 02139  Time 7:30 pm May 10, 2016

Logical Irrationalism?:  What Do We Make of the Early Wittgenstein’s  View of Ethical and Aesthetic Values as  being Supernatural?

 

A quick initial reading of Wittgenstein’s early work Tractatus Logico-Philosophicusmight lead one to think that Wittgenstein advocated a rigorous logical rationalism and a militantly scientistic outlook.  Indeed, during the 1920’s, the Vienna Circle of Positivists interpreted his work in that way, and adopted the views that they attributed to Wittgenstein themselves.  However, when they initiated discussions with Wittgenstein, they were amazed to discover that the “master” had a very different understanding of his own work.  In spite of appearances, the early Wittgenstein did not limit validity to logically rigorous statements, but thought that logical thought could only address trivial and uninteresting issues; actually important issues, including those involving ethical and aesthetic values, could only be addressed in a manner that seems downright mystical.

In the Tractatus, Wittgenstein outlined a theory of how we should understand the natural world and the role of language in providing knowledge of it.  Knowledge is possible because the world is made up of facts, and these facts can be pictured (more or less accurately) by propositions or statements.  The logical relationships of the different statements mirror the structure of the world, because they reproduce the relationship between the different facts of the world.  (Don’t worry if this doesn’t make sense, we’ll go over the argument more carefully at the Philosophy Café.)    Any statement that cannot be interpreted as a propositional picture of such facts is, according the Tractatus, literally “senseless” or meaningless.  Wittgenstein acknowledges that ethical, aesthetic and (other )spiritual concerns cannot be expressed through propositional pictures.  Therefore ethical, aesthetic, theological etc. propositions are meaningless and therefore rationally worthless.

However, Wittgenstein does not draw from this the conclusion ethical, aesthetic or spiritual concerns are unimportant.  A highly intense and passionate man, throughout his life, the ethical, aesthetic and spiritual issues were always central for him.  If such concerns were inaccessible to rational thought, then so much the worse for rational thought, Wittgenstein felt.  By definition it seems, the natural world was what could be represented by propositional pictures.  If something was real but could not be so represented, it was, again by definition, supernatural.  (Wittgenstein had no interests in miracles, ghosts etc.) When Wittgenstein said that whereof one cannot speak, one must remain silent, he was not advocating a disinterest in those concerns of which one was able to reason coherently.  Ethical, Aesthetic, and the rest of the spiritual truths could only be “shown”, not said.  Of course, if one wants a coherent account of what “showing” involves, that would be impossible according to Wittgenstein.

Wittgenstein, throughout his life, even after he adopted a very different philosophy of language in his later years, remained skeptical, sometimes even contemptuous of scientific progress.  He valued clarity in thought rather than quantity of knowledge.  And he abhorred attempts to address rationally what lay beyond Reason’s province; at the same time he saw many crucial concerns as being beyond reason’s province.

 

Some Questions to Consider:

1)      Wittgenstein later came to reject his picture theory of meaning and adopt a “use” theory of meaning instead.  (We’ll discuss what that is at the meeting.)  Should we nevertheless accept the Tractatus Account?

2)      Does the picture theory of meaning necessarily require either irrationalist values, or skepticism with respect to values?

3)      Are we comfortable with orientation that the Tractatus attitudes toward values implies?

4)      Should we take Wittgenstein’s disdain for scientific progress seriously?

 

Readings:

The Tractatus Itself…….    http://people.umass.edu/phil335-klement-2/tlp/tlp-ebook.pdf

Wikepedia’s Account of the Tractatus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractatus_Logico-Philosophicus

Comments by Bob Corbett on the book Wittgenstein’s Vienna by Janik and Toulmin   http://faculty.webster.edu/corbetre/personal/reading/janik-wittgenstein.html