Not Thinking Like a Liberal
A review of Raymond Geuss’s latest book, Not Thinking Like a Liberal (Harvard U. P., 2022)
Search Results for: wittgenstein
Taking Frege Seriously
Gottlob Frege’s new logic has changed the practice of philosophy. Joan Weiners new book, Taking Frege Seriously, seeks to identify its most important features. But her shortcoming is that she lacks a genuinely historical perspective.
The Murder of Professor Schlick
A group of young scholars in Vienna seeks to revolutionize philosophy. The murder of their leader signals a turn in their destiny and also in the course of philosophy in the twentieth century.
Berkeley Years
Part 2 of my memoir
How I left England and went to teach in Berkeley.
Berkeley Years
Part 2 of my memoir
How I left England and went to teach in Berkeley.
The Puzzle of Power
Let us be frank and admit that there is no such thing as power – just as there is no such thing as “the elephant” or “the rhinoceros.” It pays to be nominalist in all these cases and avoid a metaphysics of power just as much as a metaphysics of biological kinds. A noun makes … Continue reading The Puzzle of Power
How to become a philosopher
Let me say right away that I don’t know how one becomes a philosopher. I can only speak about this in personal terms. Having studied philosophy for a lifetime, I suppose I can call myself a philosopher in the way others call themselves physicists or plumbers. Even then I hesitate to use the word. I … Continue reading How to become a philosopher
It is so difficult to find the beginning
My graduate seminar this semester was dedicated to reading Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations once again. My motto were three sentences from On Certainty which say: “It is so difficult to find the beginning. Or better it is difficult to begin at the beginning. And not to try to go further back.” (471) I found this relevant to … Continue reading It is so difficult to find the beginning
A short trip to China
A month ago I attended the fourth International Wittgenstein Symposium in Xi’an. I gave a lecture on the beginning of the Philosophical Investigations and a talk at Northwest University on “Wittgenstein and the Decline of the West.” Almost everyone in Berkeley said: “Xi’an. Where is that?” It tells you how ignorant we are about the … Continue reading A short trip to China
A stalker at the door
Stalkers can be terrifying – as we know from the media: even when they are not, they can still be a real nuisance. I know, because I have been dealing with one for a long time. I will call my stalker Frau M. for short. She is utterly irrepressible and has been following me around … Continue reading A stalker at the door
A stalker at the door
Stalkers can be terrifying – as we know from the media: even when they are not, they can still be a real nuisance. I know, because I have been dealing with one for a long time. I will call my stalker Frau M. for short. She is utterly irrepressible and has been following me around … Continue reading A stalker at the door
The stimulus of the enigmatic
There are a few philosophical aphorisms I keep coming back to. At their best, they succeed in compressing a whole philosophy into a single sentence. They are suggestive of a multitude of ideas but also often difficult to decipher. They often throw a sharp and surprising light on our reality. Above all, they give voice to the pleasure of casting thoughts into words.