Wittgenstein and Surrealism

Essays in Philosophy 13 (1):74-84 (2012)
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Abstract

There are two aspects to Wittgenstein’s method of deconstructing pseudo-philosophical problems that need to be distinguished: (1) describing actual linguistic practice, and (2) constructing hypothetical ‘language-games’. Both methods were, for Wittgenstein, indispensable means of clarifying the ‘grammar’ of expressions of our language -- i.e., the appropriate contexts for using those expressions – and thereby dissolving pseudo-philosophical problems. Though (2) is often conflated with (1), it is important to recognize that it differs from it in important respects. (1) can be seen as functioning as a direct method of ‘proof’ (i.e., attempt to convince the reader of some thesis), and (2) as an indirect method of ‘proof’ -- proof by reductio ad absurdum. This essay will be devoted to clarifying (2) by forging an analogy with surrealism in art.

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Chrysoula Gitsoulis
City College of New York (CUNY)

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References found in this work

Wittgenstein on the nature of philosophy.Anthony Kenny - 1982 - In Anthony Kenny & Brian McGuinness (eds.), Wittgenstein and His Times. University of Chicago Press.
The Moral Dimension of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Method.Chrysoula Gitsoulis - 2007 - Analysis and Metaphysics (Special Issue on Wittgenstein) 6:452-467.

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