‘Philosophie’ grammatisch betrachtet. Wittgensteins Begriff der Therapie

Tarras, Peter (2014): ‘Philosophie’ grammatisch betrachtet. Wittgensteins Begriff der Therapie. In: KRITERION – Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 28, No. 1: pp. 75-97

Abstract

Expressions belonging to the lexical fields of medicine and psychology recur repeatedly throughout Ludwig Wittgenstein’s writings since the 1930s. He uses therapeutic vocabulary mostly in the context of metaphilosophical reflections, i.e. reflections about the activity of philosophizing. But how are we to understand such expressions? Even though some interpreters admit their metaphorical nature, the methodological background of using figurative language has hitherto been neglected concerning this matter. Here, I argue that Wittgensteinian therapy is what G. Lakoff and M. Johnson have termed a “structural metaphor”. Thus we do not only obtain a better understanding of Wittgenstein’s metaphilosophy, but also of the role metaphor use plays within his methodology. I shall try to show that he uses therapeutic metaphors(akin to pictorial elements) as argumentative and epistemological devices and thereby investigates the philosophically problematic expression ‘philosophy’ grammatically.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Form of publication: Publisher's Version
• Faculties: Cultural Studies > Department of Ancient and Modern Cultures > Institute for Near and Middle Eastern Studies; Cultural Studies > Department of Ancient and Modern Cultures > Institute for Near and Middle Eastern Studies > Jewish studies
• Subjects: 100 Philosophy and Psychology > 100 Philosophy
• ISSN: 2750-977X
• Language: German