Professor Warren Goldfarb (Harvard University), one of the leading Wittgenstein scholars in the world and one of the original formulators of what has come to be known as the ³resolute² reading of Wittgenstein¹s Tractatus, is visiting The Philosophy Department at Sydney University for the month of April to give a special intensive seminar series on Philosophical Investigations. The lectures will be held in the Refectory (Main Quad) on Mondays 3-5 and Fridays 12-2 beginning on Friday April 4th and ending on Monday April 28th.
Here is a brief description of the seminar: In his Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein claims to be giving a radical critique of philosophy. The nature of this critique, and the nature of the activity that Wittgenstein would like to see replace philosophy as previously done, are not well understood, particularly because they are not based on any general view that underwrites the criticism (³verificationism², ³behaviorism², etc.), or so Wittgenstein wants to claim. The seminar aims to clarify the issues here, via two strategies. First, attention to early analytic philosophy, in particular, Russell and Frege, and the early development of logic, which were the most important early influences on Wittgenstein. Second, looking at the text of the Investigations as a rhetorical as well as philosophical document. Clearly, in the Investigations Wittgenstein wrote with intentional rhetorical devices, presumably meant for philosophical purposes. This has rarely been taken into account in a systematic way. (Stanley Cavell¹s writing on Wittgenstein being a notable exception.) For example, the text bristles with explicit questions to the reader. Most commentators take them as ³rhetorical questions², asking for an obvious answer. This seems to me completely wrong, and belied by the structure of the text. There are many roles these questions take, but almost always they are asking for a deeper engagement, and not a summary dismissal. In particular, often such questions should not be answered negatively, but rather investigated as to whether they make sense at all. If this is understood, one can go on to interpretations of the text that undertake far more extensive investigations of the unexamined presuppositions that (I think Wittgenstein is claiming) underlie the more usual approaches to philosophical problems. The seminar will be based on a book I am preparing on the Philosophical Investigations that will explore the lessons of reading the text with these things in mind, concentrating on what I see as Wittgenstein¹s five major topics: reference to objects (ontology), linguistic meaning, understanding and other cognitive notions, rule-following, and the private mental realm. The intent is to present a unified way of reading the work that explores a notion of ³Wittgensteinian scrutiny², first as something learned from the Investigations read in the manner I suggest, and second as a philosophical stance that can be applied more widely. Please note that USYD Honours and PG students can take the course for credit. I hope many of you will take advantage of this exciting seminar series! Dr. David Macarthur
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