The Fate of Wonder: Wittgenstein's Critique of Metaphysics and Modernity (Columbia Themes in Philosophy)

Kevin M. Cahill reclaims one of Ludwig Wittgenstein's most passionately pursued endeavors: to reawaken a sense of wonder around human life and language and its mysterious place in the world. Following the philosopher's spiritual and cultural criticism and tying it more tightly to the overall evolution of his thought, Cahill frames an original interpretation of Wittgenstein's engagement with Western metaphysics and modernity, better contextualizing the force of his work. Cahill synthesizes several approaches to Wittgenstein's life and thought. He stresses the nontheoretical aspirations of the philosopher's early and later writings, combining key elements from the so-called resolute readings of the __Tractatus__ with the "therapeutic" readings of __Philosophical Investigations__. Cahill shows how continuity in Wittgenstein's cultural and spiritual concerns informed if not guided his work between these texts, and in his reading of the __Tractatus__, Cahill identifies surprising affinities with Martin Heidegger's __Being and Time__—a text rarely associated with Wittgenstein's early formulations. In his effort to recapture wonder, Wittgenstein both avoided and undermined traditional philosophy's reliance on theory. As Cahill relates the steps of this bold endeavor, he forms his own innovative, analytical methods, joining historicist and contextualist approaches to text-based, immanent readings. The result is an original, sustained examination of Wittgenstein's thought. Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction I.1. Background to the central questions and claims I.2. Methodological Issues A: resolute and therapeutic readings; “early” and “later” Wittgenstein; the “constancy” of Wittgenstein’s cultural views; the scope of the book; a point about Heidegger; a point about Charles Taylor I.3. Methodological Issues B: on the use of the Nachlass and other “nontext” sources for interpreting Wittgenstein I.4. O verview of the book Part I 1. Interpreting the Tractatus 1.1. The problem of ethics and nonsense in the Tractatus 1.2. The “ineffabilist” reading of the Tractatus 1.3. Schopenhauer and the ineffabilist reading 1.4. Diamond and Conant’s resolute reading of the Tractatus 1.5. “Intention and ethics”: Early Wittgenstein and the logial positivists on the nature of ethical utterances 2. The Ethical Purpose of the Tractatus 2.1. A remaining task for resolute readings 2.2. Conveying intention in the context of the Tractatus 2.3. Overview of anxiety, the “they,” and authenticity in Being and Time 2.4. The Tractatus and cultural critique 2.5. The law of causality, mechanics, and “wonder at the existence of the world” 2.6. Wonder and die ganze moderne Weltanschauung 2.7. Wonder, anxiety, and authenticity 2.8. A possible problem with the relation between wonder and anxiety 2.9. A uthenticity and truth in the Tractatus and Being and Time 2.10. What did Wittgenstein imagine that Heidegger meant? 2.11. A crucial difference between the ethical point of the Tractatus and authenticity in Being and Time 2.12. Kremer and Conant on the ethical point of the Tractatus 2.13. A problem with Kremer’s and Conant’s views 2.14. The ambitions of the Tractatus 3. A Resolute Failure 3.1. A significant difference between the Tractatus and Being and Time that points to a more significant underlying convergence 3.2. The method of the Tractatus and the essence of language Conclusion to Part I Part II 4. The Concept of Progress in Wittgenstein’s Thought 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Some preliminary literary-critical questions concerning the motto to the Investigations 4.3. One sense of progress in the Investigations 4.4. The relevance of the remarks on rule-following 4.5. Rule-following, progress, and the disengaged view of rationality 5. The Truly Apocalyptic View 5.1. Preliminary observations 5.2. Spengler’s influence on Wittgenstein 5.3. Wittgenstein is not a metaphysical pessimist (or optimist) 5.4. Cultural decline and the disengaged view 5.5. Wittgenstein and religion 5.6. Wittgenstein and conservatism 6. The Fate of Metaphysics 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Presentation and criticism of McDowell’s view 6.3. Presentation of Cavell’s view 6.4. Cavell and the significance of practices in Wittgenstein 6.5. Some evidence for and against Cavell (and McDowell) 6.6. Wittgenstein and the end of metaphysics Notes Bibliography Index

Kevin M. Cahill reclaims one of Ludwig Wittgenstein's most passionately pursued endeavors: to reawaken a sense of wonder around human life and language and its mysterious place in the world. Following the philosopher's spiritual and cultural criticism and tying it more tightly to the overall evolution of his thought, Cahill frames an original interpretation of Wittgenstein's engagement with Western metaphysics and modernity, better contextualizing the force of his work.

Cahill synthesizes several approaches to Wittgenstein's life and thought. He stresses the nontheoretical aspirations of the philosopher's early and later writings, combining key elements from the so-called resolute readings of the Tractatus with the "therapeutic" readings of Philosophical Investigations. Cahill shows how continuity in Wittgenstein's cultural and spiritual concerns informed if not guided his work between these texts, and in his reading of the Tractatus, Cahill identifies surprising affinities with Martin Heidegger's Being and Time -- a text rarely associated with Wittgenstein's early formulations.

In his effort to recapture wonder, Wittgenstein both avoided and undermined traditional philosophy's reliance on theory. As Cahill relates the steps of this bold endeavor, he forms his own innovative, analytical methods, joining historicist and contextualist approaches to text-based, immanent readings. The result is an original, sustained examination of Wittgenstein's thought.

Columbia University Press

Kevin Cahill reclaims one of Ludwig Wittgenstein's most passionately pursued endeavors: to reawaken wonder for the mysterious place of human life and language in the world. Following the philosopher's spiritual and cultural criticism and tying it more tightly to the overall evolution of his thought, Cahill frames an original interpretation of Wittgenstein's engagement with Western metaphysics and modernity, better contextualizing the intentions and force of his work. Throughout the course of his study, Cahill synthesizes several approaches to Wittgenstein's life and thought. He stresses the nontheoretical aspirations of the philosopher's early and later writings, combining key elements from the so-called resolute readings of the Tractatus with the "therapeutic" readings of Philosophical Investigations. He shows how continuity in Wittgenstein's cultural and spiritual concerns informed if not guided the development of his work between the writing of these texts, and in his reading of the Tractatus, Cahill reveals surprising affinities with Martin Heidegger's Being and Time, a text not often associated with Wittgenstein's early formulations. In his recapturing of wonder, Wittgenstein both avoided and undermined traditional philosophy's reliance on theory. As he relays this bold endeavor, Cahill establishes his own innovative analytical methods, joining historicist and contextualist approaches with text-based, immanent readings, launching a sustained examination never attempted before with Wittgenstein's work "Cahill synthesizes several approaches to Wittgenstein's life and thought. He stresses the nontheoretical aspirations of the philosopher's early and later writings, combining key elements from the so-called resolute readings of the Tractatus with the "therapeutic" readings of Philosophical Investigations. Cahill shows how continuity in Wittgenstein's cultural and spiritual concerns informed if not guided his work between these texts, and in his reading of the Tractatus, Cahill identifies surprising affinities with Martin Heidegger's Being and Time--a text rarely associated with Wittgenstein's early formulations. In his effort to recapture wonder, Wittgenstein both avoided and undermined traditional philosophy's reliance on theory. As Cahill relates the steps of this bold endeavor, he forms his own innovative, analytical methods, joining historicist and contextualist approaches to text-based, immanent readings. The result is an original, sustained examination of Wittgenstein's thought."--Publisher description