[lbo-talk] Butler on Derrida

Miles Jackson cqmv at pdx.edu
Sat Oct 30 10:20:47 PDT 2004


On Fri, 29 Oct 2004, Charles Brown wrote:


> CB: What's philosophy for, according to him [Wittgenstein]?
>

For Wittgenstein, most philosophical problems are pseudo-problems based on a misunderstanding of language. If you analyze the limits and actual uses of language, W contended, you realize that philosophers tend to ask silly questions that cannot be meaningfully answered.

In short: the goal of philosophy is to get philosophers to stop being silly ("show the fly the way out of the bottle").

Or put it this way: philosophy can't provide any answers, but it can discourage pointless questions.

Miles



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