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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Why is this still in print?, July 12, 2005
This review is from: Culture and Value (Paperback)
This book was published in 1980. In 1998 the editors and translator produced a beautiful new edition providing more context for the passages and an improved translation. It was published by Blackwell in the UK (ISBN 0631205713), but has still not been released in the US. Why? If you are really interested in Wittgenstein you should search that ISBN on Amazon, because there are occasionally used copies that you can order (at a premium) from abroad.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant overview of the man's concerns..., August 23, 2005
This review is from: Culture and Value (Paperback)
This collection of Wittgenstein's "remarks" written over a time period of forty years was first published as "Vermischte Bemerkungen" in the original German in 1977. These remarks are taken from his private manuscripts and diaries, which were finally translated into English in 1980.
As a vast majority of Wittgenstein's manuscripts or notebooks were written with no intent by the author for publication, it makes one wonder how the philosopher would feel about this book. He comments on a vast array of subjects from architecture, Shakespeare and music. And, of course, his philosophical musings, some remarks actually taken from his famous text, Philosophical Investigations.
It would be helpful if the reader had some previous knowledge of Wittgenstein's work and life before embarking on this text, however, I don't believe it to be absolutely essential. Surprisingly, numerous remarks throughout the text can stand alone on their own merit without contextualization. On the other hand, these remarks can also contribute to a greater understanding of Wittgenstein's philosophy, thus, in the end, Culture and Value is an excellent addition to the Wittgenstein Corpus.
I've come to understand that reading Wittgenstein is about a process of thought, a new method of thinking about our language and the world. Wittgenstein is not about a theory of reality but a process of thinking, asking different questions, never taking anything for granted, always pushing against conventional wisdom, pushing thought to its limits. At times these "aphorisms" can communicate as nonsense, ephemeral, disconnected, etc, but reading them slowly, immersing oneself into them, can produce some interesting results.
One of my favourite aphorisms: "Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself."
Or one of his descriptions of genius: "There is no more light in a genius than in any other honest man - but he has a particular kind of lens to concentrate this light into a burning point."
Reading Wittgenstein's remarks gives us a point of entry into his essential concerns as a philosopher and a human being. In fact the last remarks were written in 1951, the year of his death.
Culture and Value is that type of philosophical text that can be picked up occasionally over many years and one will continue to find stimulus for thought.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wittgenstein's Pensees, December 26, 2002
This review is from: Culture and Value (Paperback)
Both the fragmentary presentation of these remarks as well as their deeply personal nature remind one very much of Pascal, to whom, along with Plato, Augustine, and Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein deserves to be compared, moreso than Russell or any of the analytic philosophers (and this includes Wittgenstein's *Tractatus* period!). The great virtue of this book is that one can open the book to just about anywhere are find a dazzling thought, whether about Goethe, mathematics, God, etc. However, that same virtue proves to be the book's main vice: one cannot read the book expecting a 'flow' that one might find reading novels or more composed philosophical texts -- although, of course, one must keep in mind that pretty much all of Wittgenstein's later writings are like this. Indeed, there is probably no satisfying way to arrange these or any of his other writings: as the editors say, the chronological arrangement they chose is the only way to avoid distorting what Wittgenstein wrote. I suppose, then, my complaint is more against Wittgenstein's reclusiveness than against the editors of this volume. As for the book itself: whether you agree or disagree with him, Wittgenstein's profundity cannot be doubted, even on non-analytic subjects such as are treated in the book. In fact, there are several places, e.g. his discussions of Christianity, that bear a great resemblance to his discussions of language, namely: his attempts to explain something that he admits cannot be explained. Wittgenstein, despite all his efforts, could not become a believing Christian; nevertheless he demonstrates a deep understanding of Christianity's meaning, how it defies all rational explanation. As he puts it: "If Christianity is the truth then all the philosophy that has been written about it is false." This resembles very much Wittgenstein's insistance in the *Investigations* that we give up trying to give a uniform definition of language and instead describe (and describe, and describe) the various language-games. Finally, I would recommend to anybody interested in this book that he also look up Wittgenstein's analytic writings (Blue and Brown Books, Investigations, On Certainty, etc.): as I have said, his thoughts on language and his thoughts on other matters inform each other. Even a summary of his analytic philosophy, I think, would be sufficient.
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