Ludwig Wittgenstein: Dictating Philosophy: To Francis Skinner – The Wittgenstein-Skinner Manuscripts PDF
Preview Ludwig Wittgenstein: Dictating Philosophy: To Francis Skinner – The Wittgenstein-Skinner Manuscripts
Arthur Gibson Niamh O’Mahony Editors Ludwig Wittgenstein: Dictating Philosophy To Francis Skinner – The Wittgenstein-Skinner Manuscripts Ludwig Wittgenstein: Dictating Philosophy (cid:129) ’ Arthur Gibson Niamh O Mahony Ludwig Wittgenstein: Dictating Philosophy – To Francis Skinner The Wittgenstein-Skinner Manuscripts Transcribed and Edited with Introductory Chapters and Notes ArthurGibson NiamhO’Mahony DepartmentofPureMathematics Cambridge,UK andMathematicalStatistics,Centre forMathematicalSciences UniversityofCambridge Cambridge,UK ThisbookispublishedasaspecialeditionoftheNordicWittgensteinStudieswiththewebsite oftheseries. ThecoverusesphotosofWittgenstein’samanuensis,FrancisSkinner,arevirtuallyunknown. Thishithertounknownonefrom1936,kindlyretrievedbyhisfamily,neededextensive restorationforittobepublishable.WearegratefultothemathematicianDrSimoneParisotto, forachievingthisoutcome–sofaithfultotheoriginal–amidhisresearchattheCambridge MathematicsFacultyandFitzwilliamMuseum. ISBN978-3-030-36086-3 ISBN978-3-030-36087-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36087-0 ©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2020 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartofthe materialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation, broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology nowknownorhereafterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. The publisher, the authors, and the editorsare safeto assume that the adviceand informationin this bookarebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictional claimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland < Plate1Wittgenstein’samanuensisandfriend,FrancisSkinner,summer1936,attheweddingof Francis’sister.(TheeffectsofthemetallegbraceduetopolioshowonFrancis’outerrighttrouser leg.SeealsoAppendix[Q]forFrancis’sister’snotesonhim.)WearegratefultotheSkinnerfamily forretrievingthisphotograph.(PublishedimagesofWittgenstein’samanuensis,FrancisSkinner, are virtually unknown. The condition of this rare 1936 photograph of Francis Skinner needed extensiverestorationforittobepublishable.WearegratefultoMathematicianDr.SimoneParisotto for achieving this so faithfully to the original, amid his research at the Cambridge Mathematics FacultyandFitzwilliamMuseum.) For Nadia and Mark Foreword ArthurGibsonwasthefirsttorecognisetheimportanceofthenewdiscoveryofthe Wittgenstein-Skinner hitherto unpublished Archive. He deserves many congratula- tions on the publication. Its contents enable us (or rather primarily him) to recon- struct a whole phase in Wittgenstein’s philosophy. His Introduction is exemplary andprovidesnewwaysforwardtogeneratefutureinsights.ProfessorGibsonaffords us fresh insights into Wittgenstein’s methods of composition, of thought, and particularly reveals what Wittgenstein’s difficulties with mathematics were; but thatthiscouldallonly(orbest)bedonebysomeonewithGibson’sbreadthofskills andabilitytopullinarelevantinsightfromremoteareas.Thisbookthrowssomuch lightonacrucialperiodofthedevelopmentoftheworkandthepublishingplansof Wittgenstein. It is very revelatory of his attitude towards processes of creative collaborationandevenfriendship. Thebookaboundswithgoodqualities:thisEdition’stranscriptionsoftheoriginal manuscripts; its profound, original yet accessible Introduction; the informative importanceofitsfootnotes,alsofortheirevidencesignallingWittgenstein’sthought processes;thewiderangeofvaluable,hithertoinaccessibleaswellasnewrangesof informationandinsightsinitsAppendices–allamounttoatreasuryforreaders,and forfurtherunderstandingofthesubject. In Cambridge, Professor Gibson has, in effect, crafted his own informal research phrontisterion. His expertise and researches, which have conquered areas of the learned world sometimes in a dramatic manner, are spread across subjects and faculties.Thisfocusreflectsaspectsoftheimportanceofhisownoriginalresearches in a range of subjects, which also can be brought to bear on Wittgenstein, as witnessed in the present book. Various authorities and his colleagues in diverse subjects have celebrated and highlighted aspects of this picture. Bernard Williams xi xii Foreword stated,“ArthurGibsonisaphilosopherofsignificantinternationaldistinction–atthe very least”. Considering Wittgenstein’s engagement (e.g. in Chap. 4 below) with philosophyoflanguage,anOxfordProfessorofFrench,MalcolmBowie’sobserva- tionispertinent:“ArthurGibsonisawriterofphenomenalintellectualprowess,and everythinghewritesdemandstobetakenseriously.Readerswhostaywithhimover longdistanceswillreaprichrewards:heisanenlargerofhorizons”.Hisapproachto Wittgenstein’sconcernswithlanguagegamesisinformedbylinguisticexpertise:a Cambridge Regius Professor of Hebrew, Robert Gordon reported: “Gibson’s book Text and Tablet brings a logician’s insights to bear on Biblical and Near Eastern traditionsandontheirmoderninterpreters...thisbookproposesoriginalsolutionsto a wide range of problems”. Other examples abound; Martin Rees stated, “Arthur Gibson’sGodandtheUniverseisaneruditeandimpressiveachievement”–relevant forthepresentbook,withWittgensteinengagingwithNewton(Chap.8)andJames Jeans(Chap.5),andothers.InassessinghowWittgenstein’swritingsinthepresent bookinformtwenty-first-centurydebates,itisworthreadinganotheroftheEditor’s books, which engages with such concerns as Metaphysics and Transcendence. Notice the view of its publisher’s (Routledge) anonymous Continental referee, statingthat“Thisbookisoutstandingandofmajorsignificance.Itisadistinguished andimportantcontributiontothesubject,aswellasoriginalwritingofhighorder...a productofamatureanddeepmind.Itfallsintothatclassofbothsurprisingpotential and quality that could outstrip Foucault”. Frank Kermode, who over years researchedwiththeEditoronnumeroussubjects,concluded:“ArthurGibsoncom- binesatemperamentascheerfulasagoodopencoalfirewithamindlikeapressure cooker...HeisaRenaissanceman...andagenius”. ThisEditionisalsofortunatetobenefitfromitsotherEditor,NiamhO’Mahony,not least with her expertise as a sometime Trinity College Cambridge Russianist researcher and a former writer, researcher and reviewer on the staff of the BBC RussianService,whichplaceherinanexpertpositiontoguideus.Thisisevidenced byherimpressivenewtranslationsofthePushkinpoems(seeAppendix[J])–poems that Wittgenstein utilized andcopiedoutbyhand inRussian;they appear immedi- atelyafterthetimeofSkinner’sdeath.Valuableistheway,forexample,inwhichthe EditionincorporatesO’Mahony’spresentationofthenewlydiscovered(Trinity)Pat Sloan Moscow letter about Wittgenstein (Appendix [R]). These draw on her published research and lecturing on the subject (cf. O’Mahony 2013). Even O’Mahony’s and Gibson’s original gathering and interpretation of apparently sec- ondary resources – for example, the first publication of the ancestry of Francis Skinner (Appendix B), which launches and facilitates new initiatives – are of considerablevalueforfutureresearch. I personally – and readers should – offer profuse thanks for this Edition, which presents Wittgenstein’s hitherto unpublished output, depicting his thoughts and Foreword xiii cognitiveprocesses.CongratulationstoArthurGibsonandNiamhO’Mahonyonthe quality of their achievement and for what impressive resources they are, in their insightsandanalyses,aswellastowhattime-consuminglengthstheyhavegone,to provideuswiththisvolume. TheQueen’sCollege ProfessorBrianMcGuinness Oxford,UK UniversityofSiena Siena,Italy Reference O’Mahony,N.(2013).RussianmattersforWittgenstein.InJ.PadillaGalvez&M. Gaffal (Eds.), Doubtful certainties: Language-Games, forms of life, relativism (pp.149–180).Heusenstamm:Ontos,&WalterdeGruyter,Series:Aporia7.
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