“Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.”

Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein was published posthumously in 1953. Within the analytic tradition, the book is considered by many as being one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th century, putting forth the view that conceptual confusions surrounding language use are at the root of most philosophical problems. The book paved the way for philosophy in the middle of the twentieth century and continues to influence contemporary philosophers working in the philosophy of language and mind.

 

“The thoughts which I publish in what follows are the precipitate of philosophical investigations which have occupied me for the last sixteen years. They concern many subjects: the concepts of meaning, of understanding, of a proposition, of logic, the foundations of mathematics, states of consciousness, and other things.”

 

The Investigations deal largely with the difficulties of language and meaning. Wittgenstein viewed the tools of language as being fundamentally simple and he believed that philosophers had obscured this simplicity by misusing language and by asking meaningless questions.  For Wittgenstein, thought is inevitably tied to language, which is inherently social; therefore, there is no 'inner' space in which thoughts can occur, and it would therefore be a disastrous mistake to see language as being in any way analogous to formal logic.

 

“Language is a labyrinth of paths. You approach from one side and know your way about; you approach the same place from another side and no longer know your way about.” We invite you join us as we explore this challenging and highly influential work. 

 

These four online seminars will take place on Thursday evenings, 5:30-7:30PM Pacific Time. All reading materials (in English translation) will be supplied and our seminar leader will be Walter Sterling of St. John’s College. The group will be limited to 14 participants and no prior knowledge is required. Teachers will be offered 2 CEU credits for participation as requested.

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COMPLETED

This Four-Week Series is $150. 
Community of Lifelong Learners subscribers
receive a discount of $25 through a refund.