How to Read L. Wittgenstein’s Work On Certainty?

A Critical Review of the Collected Essays Titled »Readings of Wittgenstein’s On Certainty«, by D. Moyal–Sharrock and W. H. Brenner Based on an Analysis of the Original Text

Authors

  • Josipa Điri The Faculty of Philosophy of the Society of Jesus in Zagreb, Croatia
  • Kristijan Krkač Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Zagreb, Croatia

Keywords:

Wittgenstein, certainty, On Certainty, readings, propositions, epistemology, Moyal–Sharrock, Brenner

Abstract

The only collection published heretofore on Wittgenstein’s On Certainty can be divided under four headings (The Framework, Epistemic, Transcendental and Therapeutic readings). These four readings are presented in the first section of this article. The second section puts forth the results of research exhibiting material not presented, or only very scantily treated in the cited four readings, and which is relevant for an understanding of the entire work, moreover, which may possibly be the major theme of Wittgenstein’s work. The said research is based on the enumeration of the frequency with which concepts appear, the frequency of translation from German into other languages, the frequency with which key concepts are used in examples; furthermore, it is based on defining of the concept and placing of the same into three different groups based on Wittgenstein’s text itself and supported by all relevant clauses in which there appears what has been demonstrated to be the most frequently used and major concept, namely, that of certainty.

Published

2021-02-02