Wittgenstein on the human spirit /
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Wittgenstein on the Human Spirit provides a new understanding of Wittgenstein's discourse as an insightful philosophy of culture, pursued through self-reflection. It offers an edifying perspective on the conceptual underpinnings of culture as a shared expressive spiritual form of life. The ideas investigated in it are highly relevant for discussions in philosophy, aesthetics, anthropology, and cultural studies. The book embraces three studies: The Spirit of Jews , The Spirits of Culture and Civilization , and The Common Spirit of Human Beings . The first discusses Wittgenstein's remarks about Jews, focusing on their place within his philosophical thinking, self-reflection, and European discourse about culture and Jews. It shows how overcoming the anti-Semitic attitude implicit in them set off the major change in his philosophy. The second discusses Wittgenstein's reflections on the "deterioration of culture" in the modern period, showing how they are related to his remarks about following rules. The third discusses Wittgenstein's insights regarding the symbolic nature of myth, magic and religion. It suggests that modern human beings and those of ancient cultures possess a common expressive spiritual nature. This enables us to understand expressive practices in other cultures without interpretation. Nonetheless religious belief during the modern period is problematic.
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1 online resource (xii, 276 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-259) and index. :
9789401207928 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Wittgenstein's (misunderstood) religious thought /
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Wittgenstein's religious thought is not well understood. And Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion is charged with fideism, religious non-realism, and even crypto-atheism. These charges, however, are borne of misunderstandings that are a result of the critics' being oblivious of apophatic theology. This book is intended to help clear some of those misunderstandings and neutralize the above-mentioned charges. It argues that Wittgenstein's religious thought shares kinship with the thought of apophaticists in Christendom such as the Pseudo-Dionysius and St. Thomas Aquinas. What appear to be fideism, non-realism, or crypto-atheism to the critics appear differently to those who see Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion from the apophaticists' point of view--Wittgenstein's religious point of view.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [231]-237) and index. :
9789004186118 :
2210-481x ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
In search of transcendence : Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, Kazantzakis /
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This book explores the philosophical/religious thought of Soren Kierkegaard, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Nikos Kazantzakis in relation to the concept of transcendence. Each of these thinkers has made a strong impact on Western religious and philosophical thought, but each from a nearly completely different angle as well as from a different national background. This comparative study therefore crosses both national and perspectival boundaries. Each of the three thinkers struggled with the notion of transcendence but in uniquely distinct fashion. The conclusion offers yet a third model, the author's, for understanding transcendence focusing on the concept of "mediation".
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004349711 :
0929-8436 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Wittgenstein as philosophical tone-poet : philosophy and music in dialogue /
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This book provides the first in-depth exploration of the importance of music for Ludwig Wittgenstein's life and work. Wittgenstein's remarks on music are essential for understanding his philosophy: they are on the nature of musical understanding, the relation of music to language, the concepts of representation and expression, on melody, irony and aspect-perception, and, on the great composers belonging to the Austrian-German tradition. Biography and philosophy, this work suggests that Wittgenstein was a composer of philosophy who used the musical form as a blueprint for his own writing and thought. For Wittgenstein music is not alone, but connects and resonates with our cultural forms of life. His relation to composers, especially to Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler, enables Wittgenstein to address the question of how to do philosophy and compose music in the breakdown of tradition. Unlike his conservative musical sensibility, Wittgenstein's philosophy is open to musical experiments. Reflecting on his remarks on music makes it possible to compare the therapeutic aim of his philosophical activity with that of music, and thus notice affinities between Wittgenstein and John Cage.
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1 online resource (225 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789401210997 :
0167-4102 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.