Philosophy as Rational Anthropology: a perspective on Kant and Wittgenstein

To the minds of many commentators, there appears to exist tantalising similarities embedded in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and Ludwig Wittgenstein, waiting to be clarified. However, continued disagreement as to how these similarities are to be articulated, and consequently quite what they should amount to, has led some to suspect such musings to be a sophistical mirage. Additionally, further complicating their comparison is also the interpretive disagreements that have persisted in relation to the writings of both philosophers, respectively. Nevertheless, both figures are undoubtedly responsible for framing large swathes of modern philosophical thought – perhaps none more so than Kant in the course of his Critique of Pure Reason. As Putnam attests, “almost all the problems of philosophy attain the form in which they are of real interest only with the work of Kant.”1 Despite this accolade however, it can be stated with only the odd contrarian objection that in their respective...Show moreTo the minds of many commentators, there appears to exist tantalising similarities embedded in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and Ludwig Wittgenstein, waiting to be clarified. However, continued disagreement as to how these similarities are to be articulated, and consequently quite what they should amount to, has led some to suspect such musings to be a sophistical mirage. Additionally, further complicating their comparison is also the interpretive disagreements that have persisted in relation to the writings of both philosophers, respectively. Nevertheless, both figures are undoubtedly responsible for framing large swathes of modern philosophical thought – perhaps none more so than Kant in the course of his Critique of Pure Reason. As Putnam attests, “almost all the problems of philosophy attain the form in which they are of real interest only with the work of Kant.”1 Despite this accolade however, it can be stated with only the odd contrarian objection that in their respective attempts to establish Transcendental Idealism in the course of the Critique, and Logical Atomism through the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, that both Kant’s and Wittgenstein’s doctrines constitute technical failures. That being said, both figures also sought to change our fundamental understanding of the task of philosophy, and in this sense, their works should remain valuable points of reference in the continuing discourse on meta-philosophy. Hence, it is here considered in what sense this latter perspective of them has been retained in the contemporary reflections upon either philosopher.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Philosophy as Rational Anthropology: a perspective on Kant and Wittgenstein