Much Ado about a Point of View

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9687017
AutoresLance Ashdown (University of Groningen, autor de correspondencia)
Año2004
Volumen43
Número4
Páginas685-706
Fecha de publicación2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDialogue (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0012-2173 • E-ISSN: 1759-0949
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0012217300003991
OpenAlexW2128218452
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas9

What did Wittgenstein mean when he remarked, “I am not a religious man but I cannot help but see every problem from a religious point of view”? Malcolm's thesis is that it points to analogies between Wittgenstein's philosophical outlook and a religious view of life. In opposition, Peter Winch argues that Wittgenstein's remark need not be understood as referring to exclusively philosophical problems; rather, Wittgenstein was expressing his own quasi-religious perspective on life and emphasizing the spiritual importance of philosophical clarity. In contrast to Malcolm and Winch, I argue that the remark is best taken to mean roughly: “I am not a religious person myself, but when I reflect philosophically on what it means for a person to face certain types of problems, for example, moral dilemmas or other difficult decisions in life, it is important to acknowledge the diversity of possible perspectives from which these problems can be seen; in so doing, I cannot help but imagine how such problems would appear from the perspective of a religious person.”

CLARITY · Epistemology · Face (sociological concept · Opposition (politics · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Politics · Reflexive pronoun · Social science · Sociology · Karl Barth and Christian Theology · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Religion, Theology, and Education · Wittgensteinian philosophy and applications