Much Ado about a Point of View

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

• Discussions of Wittgenstein

  Open Access•Ilham Dilman•Philosophical Books•1970

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• Can Religion be Explained Away

  Open Access•D Phillips, D Z Phillips•Can Religion Be Explained Away?•1996

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• Wittgenstein

  James Kellenberger, Norman Malcolm•The Philosophical Review•1995

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• Ludwig Wittgenstein

  Gregory Vlastos, Norman Malcolm•The Philosophical Review•1960

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• Ludwig Wittgenstein-A Religious Point of View? Thoughts on Norman Malcolm's Last Philosophical Project

  Open Access•William James Deangelis•Dialogue•1997

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