Abstract

Two important influences on twentieth-century philosophy have been existentialism and the philosophy of language. Existentialism has been critical of traditional uses and categorizations of reason. Philosophy of language has emphasized the importance of linguistic analysis and understanding for philosophical investigations. I believe that in general the existential challenge to reason has been ignored by many who are influenced by the philosophy of language. Similarly, I believe that Wittgenstein has been used in too much of a piecemeal fashion by the philosophers of language and that more attention needs to be paid to the general framework in which Wittgenstein works. I think that by arriving at a general view of Wittgenstein's philosophical approach a seriousness is given to the existential challenge to reason as well as a reply. ;I first investigate the existential challenge to reason as it is presented in the "simpler" perspectives of Dostoevsky and Kierkegaard. I then show that the basic assumptions involved in this challenge can be seen at the heart of Heisenberg's concerns with the uncertainty principle in physics and Schoenberg's concerns with the twelve-tone row in music. ;I then argue, following the general criticisms by Einstein of Heisenberg and Bernstein of Schoenberg, that rather than seeing the limitations on reason demonstrated by the existentialists as demanding the necessity of a subjective perspective it is more correct to see such limitations as suggesting the need for a new concept of objectivity. It is such a concept that I believe Wittgenstein presents in his analysis of language. By carefully and textually investigating his notions of "language-games" and "forms of life" I argue that he provides a framework in which the existential concerns about reason can be accepted without having to ground them in a fundamental fashion in human subjectivity