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Wittgenstein’s Ethics and Modern Warfare Santianez (FA2).indd 1 2018-04-24 12:49 PM This page intentionally left blank Santianez (FA2).indd 2 2018-04-24 12:49 PM Wittgenstein’s Ethics and Modern Warfare nil santiáñez Santianez (FA2).indd 3 2018-04-24 12:49 PM WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY PRESS Wilfrid Laurier University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. This work was supported by the Research Support Fund. an Ontario government agency un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Santiáñez-Tió, Nil, author Wittgenstein’s ethics and modern warfare / Nil Santiáñez. Includes bibliographical references. Issued in print and electronic formats. ISBN 978-1-77112-383-9 (hardcover).—ISBN 978-1-77112-384-6 (EPUB).— ISBN 978-1-77112-385-3 (PDF) 1. Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1889–1951—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Ethics. 3. World War, 1914–1918—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title. I. Title: Ethics and modern warfare. B3376.W564S26 2018 192 C2018-902210-8 C2018-902211-6 Front-cover image: Otto Dix, Sonnenaufgang, 1913. Öl auf Papier auf Pappe (oil on paper on cardboard). Bildmaβ (picture): 50.5 x 66cm; Rahmenmaβ (frame): 64.5 x 80.3 x 7.5 cm. Inv.-Nr. 2013/k 25, Städtische Galerie Dresden – Kunstsammlung (Municipal Gallery Dresden – Art Collection), Museen der Stadt Dresden (Museums of the City of Dresden). Acquired 2012 with the friendly assistance of Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung, Kulturstiftung der Länder, Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung and the Rudolf-August Oetker Stiftung. Photo: Herbert Boswank. © Estate of Otto Dix / SODRAC (2018). Cover design by Lara Minja, Lime Design Inc. Interior design by Daiva Villa/Chris Rowat Design. © 2018 Wilfrid Laurier University Press Waterloo, Ontario, Canada www.wlupress.wlu.ca This book is printed on FSC® certified paper and is certified Ecologo. It contains post- consumer fibre, is processed chlorine free, and is manufactured using biogas energy. Printed in Canada Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and omissions called to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in future printings. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans- mitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit http://www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777. Santianez (FA2).indd 4 2018-04-24 12:49 PM In memoriam Albert Freixa With fraternal gratitude and love Santianez (FA2).indd 5 2018-04-24 12:49 PM This page intentionally left blank Santianez (FA2).indd 2 2018-04-24 12:49 PM Contents Illustrations viii Preface ix part one the great war and the ethics of silence 1 1 A Wordless Battle 3 2 A Wordless Ethics 15 part two wittgenstein’s ladders and ethical landscapes 41 3 Landscapes of War 43 4 Landscapes of Peace 69 Coda: Unintelligibility and the Moral Imagination 115 Notes 119 Bibliography 139 Copyright Acknowledgements 152 vii Santianez (FA2).indd 7 2018-04-24 12:49 PM List of Illustrations Figure 1.1 British troops advancing through no-man’s- land 5 1.2 Burial of British soldiers 10 4.1 Otto Dix, Kriegskrüppel (War cripples) 84 4.2 Otto Dix, Transplantation (Skin graft) 94 4.3 The German Crown Prince 101 4.4 Disabled veteran 102 4.5 Disabled veteran 103 4.6 Disabled veteran 104 4.7 Disabled veteran 105 4.8 Disabled veteran 106 4.9 Disabled veteran 107 4.10 Disabled veteran 108 4.11 Disabled veteran 109 viii Santianez (FA2).indd 8 2018-04-24 12:49 PM Preface I have always been struck by the peculiar homology between Wittgenstein’s notion of ethics and the view of war held by veterans of the world war of 1914–18. On the one hand, Wittgenstein (himself a veteran of that war) conceived of ethics as both transcendental and inexpressible. On the other, a substantial number of veterans of the Great War claimed that war cannot be truly imagined, understood, or represented; to many former combatants, that military conflict was a sort of ineffable event. This homology is not, I presume, mere coincidence. After all, Wittgenstein’s moral philosophy arose from the war, specifically as a result of his own combat experience in the Eastern Front in the summer of 1916. Before his true baptism of fire, Wittgenstein was exclusively interested in matters concerning logic. The focus of his intellectual preoccupations radically shifted after he faced death in the battlefield: suddenly, after his first experience of combat Wittgenstein began to reflect on ethics, on God, on the meaning of life. War is a life-changing event for most of its participants, and Wittgenstein was no exception. Taking as a point of departure the aforementioned homology, in this book I explore the links between Wittgenstein’s ix Santianez (FA2).indd 9 2018-04-24 12:49 PM