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In Ludwig Wittgenstein's writings, ethics takes a central place in his thinking. This element investigates his engagement with ethics in both early and later thinking. Starting from the remarks on ethics in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the framing of these remarks, it presents two influential approaches to Tractarian ethics, before it develops a coherent reading of ethics in the early thinking, focusing on ethical silence and the relationship notions of world and the philosophical 'I'. The reading of 'A Lecture on Ethics' focuses on the critique of ethical theory and the personal dimension of ethics, two themes also running through Wittgenstein's later thinking. It considers Wittgenstein's later ethical investigations, of ethical examples, ethically relevant language uses of language and the connections between reflections on ethics and living. It also considers the role of the other in Wittgenstein's later thinking.
List of contents
1. Wittgenstein's Remarks on Ethics; 2. Remarks on Ethics in the Tractatus-Guides and Interpretations; 3. The Tractatus Remarks on Ethics Again-A Reading; 4. 'A Lecture on Ethics' and Continuities in Wittgenstein's View of Ethics; 5. Wittgenstein's Later Writings on Ethics; References.
Summary
This element investigates Ludwig Wittgenstein's engagement with ethics in both early and later thinking. Starting from the remarks on ethics in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the framing of these remarks, it presents two influential approaches to Tractarian ethics.
