tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20662860.post3813915538908858419..comments2023-04-02T09:49:12.204-04:00Comments on Problems of Life: Klemke on Wittgenstein's "Lecture on Ethics"Matthew Pianaltohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20662860.post-85595329447769298172011-10-21T12:00:30.688-04:002011-10-21T12:00:30.688-04:00I wonder whether this has anything to do with the ...I wonder whether this has anything to do with the claim that Heidegger's way of doing philosophy was "dictatorial" because he didn't argue the way philosophers are supposed to. As I recall, this is part of the reason why Heidegger was not allowed to teach for some years after WWII. If one takes seriously the idea that for philosophers to make unsupported claims (or claims not given the right sort of support) is Nazi-ish, then much of Wittgenstein's work might seem despicable. This is an idea that I find hard to take seriously, but perhaps it was easier to do so in 1975. <br><br>It's not hard to imagine someone thinking that work of this sort just isn't philosophy, or reeks of arrogance. Perhaps that is all that Klemke was thinking. But it isn't the most charitable way to read Wittgenstein (or Heidegger), and the Lecture on Ethics seems anything but arrogant to me.DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20662860.post-23501137859702939812011-10-21T12:37:38.390-04:002011-10-21T12:37:38.390-04:00and the Lecture on Ethics seems anything but arrog...<i>and the Lecture on Ethics seems anything but arrogant to me.</i><br><br>I agree, especially then end. BUT I suppose if you're reading it as a kind of positivist treatise--which, as we've both discussed elsewhere--is tempting for various reasons, then perhaps one would find it arrogant? (I'm not really sure about that...though I suppose one could see the positivist dismissal of Heidegger-style philosophy as "merely" poetry is pretty arrogant.)Matthew Pianaltohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20662860.post-34769169788467349402011-10-21T12:47:55.581-04:002011-10-21T12:47:55.581-04:00Yes, I was thinking of the end when I wrote that. ...Yes, I was thinking of the end when I wrote that. Any dismissal of anything as "merely" poetry seems bad to me, although it's almost too stupid to count as arrogant. But dismissal itself, including positivist dismissal of Heidegger-style philosophy, is always likely to be/seem arrogant. And if Wittgenstein's lecture seems positivistic then it might also be taken as dismissive.DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.com