Overview
- Explains the proximity between Loos and Wittgenstein
- Offers a less controversial view of the resolute reading
- Topics of interest to philosophers (especially Wittgenstein scholars), architectural theorists, and art historians
Part of the book series: History of Analytic Philosophy (History of Analytic Philosophy)
Buy print copy
Keywords
- Wittgenstein
- Architecture
- Tractatus
- Art
- Culture
About this book
Between 1926 and 1928, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein designed a house for his sister in Vienna (the Kundmanngasse). This book aims to clarify the relation between that house and Wittgenstein’s early philosophy. The starting point of its main argument is a remark from Diktat für Schlick (c. 1932-33) in which Wittgenstein proposes an analogy between ornaments and nonsensical sentences. The attempt to extract from it an account of the relation between the Kundmanngasse and the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921) leads to the writings of Adolf Loos (whose influence Wittgenstein recognized). The discussion of Loos’s writings suggests that the analogy should be understood, not as one between actual ornaments and nonsensical sentences, but as one between Loos’s and Wittgenstein’s uses of these notions. So understood, it favors the (so-called) resolute reading of the Tractatus and reveals that both Wittgenstein’s use of ‘nonsense’ and Loos’s use of ‘ornaments’ are means to the end of promoting self‑understanding. The book concludes that both the Kundmanngasse and the Tractatus are results of Wittgenstein’s efforts at this kind of self‑understanding. These can be construed as ways of acknowledging our humanity, which in turn can be seen as a unifying element of Wittgenstein’s philosophy.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Raimundo Henriques holds an MA in Philosophy and a PhD in Literary Theory from the University of Lisbon. He works at the intersection of Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Literary Theory. His main interests include, but are not limited to, the philosophy of Wittgenstein, the History of Analytic Philosophy, the Philosophy of Architecture, and the culture of the early twentieth century.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Self-Understanding in the Tractatus and Wittgenstein’s Architecture
Book Subtitle: From Adolf Loos to the Resolute Reading
Authors: Raimundo Henriques
Series Title: History of Analytic Philosophy
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-58383-4Due: 10 September 2024
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-58386-5Due: 10 September 2024
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-58384-1Due: 10 September 2024
Series ISSN: 2634-5994
Series E-ISSN: 2634-6001
Edition Number: 1