Wittgenstein and the Nature of Violence

217 Pages·2020·5.961 MB·English

by  R. Krishnaswamy

WITTGENSTEIN AND THE
NATURE OF VIOLENCE
How do we explain violence?
What is so significant of modern forms of violence that it has
produced such large-scale destruction in its wake?
This volume builds on the political philosophy of Wittgenstein,
his notions of peace and violence, to explore how violence in
any form is contained in culturally or ideologically formed
institutions. Drawing on Wittgenstein’s work on language, it
explores the link between language and violence, everydayness
and culture. It examines everyday instances of micro-violence that
we sometimes forget to recall. This book puts forth the claim that
any theory of violence will have to touch on the myriad – both
micro and macro – political, social and cultural interactions that
make up the human condition. The author further comments on
the unseen ways violence has been instrumentalized in modern
history’s many stages to create a spectacle of power to reinforce
authority.
T he volume will be of great interest to students and scholars
of peace and conflict studies, political philosophy, linguistics and
modern history.
R . Krishnaswamy is an assistant professor at the Jindal School
of Liberal Arts and Humanities (JSLH), O.P. Jindal Global
University (O.P. JGU), Haryana, India. He is interested in the
interface of language and the mind.
P EACEMAKERS
S eries Editor: Ramin Jahanbegloo
E xecutive Director of the Mahatma Gandhi
Centre for Nonviolence and Peace Studies and
the Vice-Dean of the School of Law at Jindal
Global University, India
Peace is one of the central concepts of the spiritual and political
life of humanity. Peace does not imply simply the absence of war.
It implies harmony, justice and empathy. Empathy is the key to
the education of peace in our world. In other words, despite the
vast differences of values between cultures and traditions, it is still
possible to grasp an understanding of one another, via ‘empathy.’
Throughout the centuries, peacemakers have endorsed a ‘shared
human horizon’ that according to them had the critical force of
avoiding moral anarchy and relativism while acknowledging the
plurality of modes of being human.
T oday in a different manner and in a changed tone, but
with the same moral courage and dissenting voice, this series on
“ Peacemakers” offers the first comprehensive engagement with
the problems of peace in our age, through a meticulous and thor-
ough study of the lives and thoughts of peacemakers of all ages.
W ITTGENSTEIN AND THE NATURE OF VIOLENCE
R .Krishnaswamy
WITTGENSTEIN
AND THE NATURE
OF VIOLENCE
R. Krishnaswamy
First published 2021
by Routledge
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© 2021 R. Krishnaswamy
The right of R. Krishnaswamy to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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ISBN: 978-0-367-36804-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-36891-3 (pbk)
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CONTENTS
Series editor’s preface viii
P reface x
A cknowledgements xiii
A bbreviations xv
1 Modernity and the instrumentality of violence 1
2 Violence and the body 32
3 The silent stories we tell 64
4 Wittgensteinian interventions 95
5 The rules of the everyday world 133
6 Conclusion: tying the knots 163
R eferences 187
I ndex 197
vii
SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE
Peace is one of the central concepts of the spiritual and politi-
cal life of humanity. When we study the world’s religious and
philosophical teachings, whether they are from the East or the
West, we see that one of the basic ideals of all religions is peace.
Peace does not imply simply the absence of war. It implies har-
mony, justice and empathy. Empathy is the key to the education
of peace in our world. In other words, despite the vast differences
of values between cultures and traditions, it is still possible to
grasp an understanding of one another, via ‘empathy.’ Therefore,
we can maintain that all cultures have a shared core of common
humanity. Throughout the centuries, peacemakers endorsed a
‘shared human horizon’ that according to them had the critical
force of avoiding moral anarchy and relativism while acknowl-
edging the plurality of modes of being human. The first step for
peacemakers has always been not only to assume that there are
differences among nations, cultures and traditions of thought but
also to admit that people may have different value systems which
need to be understood and approached dialogically and criti-
cally. Philosophy of peace is, thus, expressed here in the idea of
a ‘self-respecting’ community or nation which strives to remove
its own imperfections instead of necessarily judging others. As a
result, peacemaking is always a call not only to cultivate humility
but also to foster pluralism. Such a view is essential if we are to
avoid the danger of cultural conformity and move towards the
recognition of the shared values of humanity and the acceptance
of what Martin Luther King Jr called the cosmic companionship.
viii
SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE
To put it differently, we can say that it would be an error to hope
that we can ever achieve a truly universal vision of peace without
an intercultural approach to the idea of civilization. Peacemakers
have always been in favour of farsighted peacemaking in our
world, one which has seriously advocated the logic of solidar-
ity and civic friendship beyond national selfishness and global
exclusion. Let us not forget that all peacemakers, young or old,
from the West or the East, were all engaged in the process of
seeking peace by fighting for care, openness and empathy as
constructive forms of being together. Today in a different man-
ner and in a changed tone, but with the same moral courage
and dissenting voice, this series on p eacemakers offers the first
comprehensive engagement with the problems of peace in our
age, through a meticulous and thorough study of the lives and
thoughts of peacemakers of all ages.
R amin Jahanbegloo
ix