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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
An absolutely exhilarating read. Reading propositions 6.4 thru 7 is a mind-bending intellectual experience, and yes, that is exactly where Wittgenstein gets strangely mystical. But that is also where Wittgenstein shows that he can make even mysticism seem compelling and actually reasonable. It is also where the debate over the Tractatus' ultimate meaning emerges. The last statement before the famous closer: "what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence" is, in true Wittgensteinian manner, both profoundly clear and profoundly puzzling. I would go as far as to say that this notion of transcendence in 6.54 must ground every discussion of what the Tractatus is about and how it relates to later Wittgenstein works, and especially Philosophical Investigations.
But regardless of the larger picture of the book's point, the Tractatus is nevertheless fascinating even though wrong. Wittgenstein's writings on logic and mathematics lack the sexiness associated with the opening and closing sections of the book (and those are the sections that the book is famous for outside of philosophy departments), but are profound and remarkable pieces of philosophical work.
Most of the Tractatus is brilliant, philosophically. It is a seriously important work, and a fascinating one. Its wrongness does not reduce it to a work of no value. Read it at the risk of it taking over your life.
Few works of philosophy, correct or incorrect, are more compelling and mesmerizing than this, which despite being wrong still contains nuggets of capital-T Truth. One of those few works is Philosophical Investigations, but that, after all, is the greatest work in philosophy, and maybe the best book ever written in or outside of that realm.
But regardless of the larger picture of the book's point, the Tractatus is nevertheless fascinating even though wrong. Wittgenstein's writings on logic and mathematics lack the sexiness associated with the opening and closing sections of the book (and those are the sections that the book is famous for outside of philosophy departments), but are profound and remarkable pieces of philosophical work.
Most of the Tractatus is brilliant, philosophically. It is a seriously important work, and a fascinating one. Its wrongness does not reduce it to a work of no value. Read it at the risk of it taking over your life.
Few works of philosophy, correct or incorrect, are more compelling and mesmerizing than this, which despite being wrong still contains nuggets of capital-T Truth. One of those few works is Philosophical Investigations, but that, after all, is the greatest work in philosophy, and maybe the best book ever written in or outside of that realm.
Whoever I listened to on the internet who said "Wittgenstein is the easiest to understand philosopher," Im going to kick your ass.
I'd feel bad giving the book a 1 for my own ignorance but I will say two things:
1. It is not useful but required to have a solid grasp of logical notation in order to get even a fraction of what is said.
2. Wittgenstein himself warns at the beginning of the book: "This book will perhaps only be understood by those who have themselves already though the thoughts which are expressed in it - or similar thoughts."
Regarding the content of the book I will refer to the thesis of the book: "What can be said at all can be said clearly; and whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent."
I'd feel bad giving the book a 1 for my own ignorance but I will say two things:
1. It is not useful but required to have a solid grasp of logical notation in order to get even a fraction of what is said.
2. Wittgenstein himself warns at the beginning of the book: "This book will perhaps only be understood by those who have themselves already though the thoughts which are expressed in it - or similar thoughts."
Regarding the content of the book I will refer to the thesis of the book: "What can be said at all can be said clearly; and whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent."
The vast majority of this book is nonsense. The law of the excluded middle is nonsense. Classical logic is nonsense. Thankfully, at the very end of the book Wittgenstein acknowledges this. I can always appreciate when someone acknowledges the non-existence of logic (and thus mathematics), but what I don’t understand is why he devoted so much of this book (and his life) to this nonsense. Overall, this book is severely overrated, but not terrible, although I can’t say I agree with any of his main slogans.
¿Cómo un libro puede ser lo más claro y lo más confuso, lo más simple y lo más complejo, tener menos de 100 páginas y durar toda la vida?
Cuatro estrellas porque me cansó leerlo, pero a su vez la tensión con Russell que se desarrolla a través de la trama te mantiene en vigilia (a pesar de que sin la bibliografía correspondiente cuesta entender el cahuín). Una buena comedia sin mucha acción. Se lo agradezco señor Ludovico.
Cuatro estrellas porque me cansó leerlo, pero a su vez la tensión con Russell que se desarrolla a través de la trama te mantiene en vigilia (a pesar de que sin la bibliografía correspondiente cuesta entender el cahuín). Una buena comedia sin mucha acción. Se lo agradezco señor Ludovico.
Ce dont on ne peut parler, il faut le taire.
Voilà mon avis.
Voilà mon avis.
challenging
medium-paced
Wrong in a respectable way.
Right in an audacious way:
"The object of philosophy is the logical clarification of thoughts.
Philosophy is not a theory but an activity.
A philosophical work consists essentially of elucidations."
"I give no sources because it is indifferent
to me whether what I have thought has
already been thought before me by another."
"In the world everything is as it is
and happens as it does happen. In it there is no value
—and if there were, it would be of no value."
"It is clear that ethics cannot be expressed.
Ethics are transcendental.
(Ethics and æsthetics are one.)"
"Death is not an event of life. Death is not lived through.
If by eternity is understood not endless temporal duration
but timelessness, then he lives eternally who lives in the present.
Our life is endless in the way that our visual field is without
limit"
"There is indeed the inexpressible.
This shows itself; it is the mystical."
"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."
Right in an audacious way:
"The object of philosophy is the logical clarification of thoughts.
Philosophy is not a theory but an activity.
A philosophical work consists essentially of elucidations."
"I give no sources because it is indifferent
to me whether what I have thought has
already been thought before me by another."
"In the world everything is as it is
and happens as it does happen. In it there is no value
—and if there were, it would be of no value."
"It is clear that ethics cannot be expressed.
Ethics are transcendental.
(Ethics and æsthetics are one.)"
"Death is not an event of life. Death is not lived through.
If by eternity is understood not endless temporal duration
but timelessness, then he lives eternally who lives in the present.
Our life is endless in the way that our visual field is without
limit"
"There is indeed the inexpressible.
This shows itself; it is the mystical."
"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."
A philosophical important, but ultimately limited book. It is understandable that many found and continue to find the Tractatus philosophically inspiring and that many, including the later Wittgenstein himself, find it to a sort of philosophical dead-end in a number of ways.
Surely an interesting take on metaphysics and epistemology, with an interesting method of exposition surrounding it.
Not the most enjoyable philosophy book you will read in your life, but surely a very important one the theory of which still reverberate in language theory, and even in spirituality, nowadays.
Not the most enjoyable philosophy book you will read in your life, but surely a very important one the theory of which still reverberate in language theory, and even in spirituality, nowadays.