Project:About Wittgenstein: Difference between revisions

(Tractatus presentation + corrections)
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{{Drawer|number=4
{{Drawer|number=4
|title=Philosophical Investigations
|title=Philosophical Investigations
|content= "Philosophical Investigations" is the title that Wittgenstein, starting from the mid-1930s, began to attribute to a collection of manuscripts, often converted into typescripts, which he submitted many times to extensive and compulsive revisions, in an attempt to shape a second book of philosophy that never saw the light of day during the author's lifetime: it was only in 1953 that Wittgenstein's literary executors posthumously published the text, in a form that has not failed to provoke criticism due to the inclusion of a so-called “Part II” of the work. The contents of this section were apparently derived from materials collected by Wittgenstein during his last period of teaching in Cambridge between 1947 and 1949. Those materials were later selected by the philosopher himself and typed out. While Wittgenstein's literary executors claimed that it was his intention to incorporate these contents into the final version of the work, there is no irrefutable confirmation of this. Additionally, the themes discussed in "Part II" are undeniably more aligned with the work Wittgenstein carried out on the philosophy of psychology during those years of teaching. For these reasons, on our website, we exclusively reproduce what is known as the "Part I" of the work. This follows the suggestion of Joachim Schulte, the editor of the [https://www.suhrkamp.de/buch/ludwig-wittgenstein-philosophische-untersuchungen-t-9783518223727 German edition of the ''Philosophical Investigations''], who also observes that the integration proposed by the literary executors, while undoubtedly welcomed at the time of publication as it allowed readers of the Investigations to become acquainted with Wittgenstein's reflections that had otherwise been kept hidden for many years, is now superfluous, because many of the contents of “Part II” were channeled by Wittgenstein into the Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology.
|content= "Philosophical Investigations" is the title that Wittgenstein, starting from the mid-1930s, began to attribute to a collection of German-written manuscripts, often converted into typescripts, which he submitted many times to extensive and compulsive revisions, in an attempt to shape a second book of philosophy that never saw the light of day during the author's lifetime: it was only in 1953 that Wittgenstein's literary executors posthumously published the text with an English translation, in a form that has not failed to provoke criticism due to the inclusion of a so-called “Part II” of the work. The contents of this section were apparently derived from materials collected by Wittgenstein during his last period of teaching in Cambridge between 1947 and 1949. Those materials were later selected by the philosopher himself and typed out. While Wittgenstein's literary executors claimed that it was his intention to incorporate these contents into the final version of the work, there is no irrefutable confirmation of this. Additionally, the themes discussed in "Part II" are undeniably more aligned with the work Wittgenstein carried out on the philosophy of psychology during those years of teaching. For these reasons, on our website, we exclusively reproduce what is known as the "Part I" of the work. This follows the suggestion of Joachim Schulte, the editor of the [https://www.suhrkamp.de/buch/ludwig-wittgenstein-philosophische-untersuchungen-t-9783518223727 German edition of the ''Philosophical Investigations''], who also observes that the integration proposed by the literary executors, while undoubtedly welcomed at the time of publication as it allowed readers of the ''Investigations'' to become acquainted with Wittgenstein's reflections that had otherwise been kept hidden for many years, is now superfluous, because many of the contents of “Part II” were channeled by Wittgenstein into the ''Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology''.


Although the final version of the first part of the work was only composed between 1943 and 1945, with some marginal rehashes thereafter, it would be flawed to argue that the ''Investigations'' reflect Wittgenstein's thought limited to the late 1940s. As he writes in the Preface, the ideas contained in the book are “the precipitate of philosophical investigations which have occupied me for the last sixteen years”. Therefore, the ''Philosophical Investigations'' can be considered a synthesis of Wittgenstein's mature thought, following his return to philosophy in 1929. Once again, the result of years of gestation was a complex work, devoid of a hierarchical structure and a definitive status unlike the ''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'', but equally rich and surprising.
Although the final version of the first part of the work was only composed between 1943 and 1945, with some marginal rehashes thereafter, it would be flawed to argue that the ''Investigations'' reflect Wittgenstein's thought limited to the late 1940s. As he writes in the Preface, the ideas contained in the book are “the precipitate of philosophical investigations which have occupied me for the last sixteen years”. Therefore, the ''Philosophical Investigations'' can be considered a synthesis of Wittgenstein's mature thought, following his return to philosophy in 1929. Once again, the result of years of gestation was a complex work, devoid of a hierarchical structure and a definitive status unlike the ''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'', but equally rich and surprising.