Description: This advance seminar will focus on the development of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s early philosophy. In particular, we will focus on his highly influential first book, published in 1921, called Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. The main goal of the course will be to read the entire book along with helpful commentaries from specialists on Wittgenstein’s philosophy. We will be asking questions about the development of Wittgenstein’s ideas in the context of the development of analytic philosophy, the influences of Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell on his work, as well as the legacy of his work. There are different English translations of Wittgenstein’s book and any translation is, in principle, fine. I recommend the translation by David Pears and Brian McGuinness (https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Ludwig-Wittgenstein/dp/0415254086/ref=sr_1_9?crid=167XXPULA3LK1&keywords=traktor+logicophilosophicus&qid=1641557234&sprefix=tractatu%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-9), which is the book I will use. Every student must have access to a copy of the Tractatus for the class. We will also read passages from commentaries and, possibly, articles written about the book. These will be provided in pdf form on our course website. Each week a group of students will present the assigned readings and bring questions for discussion. This course is recommended for students that already took introductory classes in logic, in particular, propositional and first-order logic, though having taken such classes is not a requirement for this course. This course will be in English.
- Dozent/in: Fabio Lampert
- Dozent/in: Manuela Schlünß