Jan 7, 2018
This episode is proudly supported by the New College of the
Humanities. To find out more about the college and their philosophy
programmes, please visit www.nchlondon.ac.uk/panpsycast. Everything
you could need is on www.thepanpsycast.com! Please tweet us your
thoughts at www.twitter.com/thepanpsycast. Ludwig Wittgenstein was
an Austrian-British philosopher whose work focused on the
philosophy of mathematics, logic, the philosophy of mind, and most
notably, the philosophy of language.
Wittgenstein’s influence on the world of philosophy has been
phenomenal. The study of philosophy was immensely important to
Wittgenstein, not only as an academic discipline but as a form of
therapy. In Ludwig’s own words, he describes philosophy as, "the
only work that gives me real satisfaction". Wittgenstein’s work can
be divided into an early period, exemplified by the Tractatus (our
focus for Part I), and a later period, articulated in the
Philosophical Investigations (which is our focus for Part II).
Early Wittgenstein was concerned with the logical relationship
between propositions and the world. He thought that by providing an
account of this relationship, he had solved every philosophical
problem. The later Wittgenstein rejected many of the assumptions of
the Tractatus, arguing that the meaning of words is best understood
as their use within a given language-game. Wittgenstein’s life and
work are astonishing. His mentor, Bertrand Russell, described him
as "the most perfect example I have ever known of genius as
traditionally conceived; passionate, profound, intense, and
dominating". Part I. The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (08:00 in
Part I), Part II. The Philosophical Investigations (start of Part
II), Part III. What can Nietzsche teach us? (45:45 in Part II).