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Philosophical Problems are Problems of the Point: Reading Wittgenstein's Central Concepts

Publish: April 21, 2025

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  • Yuki Tanida

    Other : Philosopher

    ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ alumni

    Yuki Tanida

    Other : Philosopher

    ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ alumni

There are various types of "tone-deafness" in this world. Being tone-deaf in sports, in taste, in economics... there is also artistic tone-deafness, where one cannot properly appreciate works such as poetry, novels, paintings, films, or music. Those who are artistically tone-deaf do not know where to focus, where to pay attention, or in other words, how they need to "see" the work as a whole. They cannot see what should be physically visible to them.

There is a convenient word to describe the situation these artistically tone-deaf people find themselves in. That is the "point" (Witz; point) found in the title of this book.

It is the same "point" used in phrases like "The point here is..." or "I don't see the point of the argument." In English, understanding or not understanding something is expressed as "getting" or "missing the point." One could say that the artistically tone-deaf miss the point of a work and fail to understand it.

The protagonist of this book, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889¨C1951), held this concept of the "point" in very high regard. The title of this book is taken from a passage in his posthumous manuscripts.

He criticized the way philosophers used language (critique of language) and sought not to "solve" but to "dissolve" philosophical problems. According to Wittgenstein, philosophers would be considered tone-deaf regarding language. His activity was meant to help such tone-deaf people clearly see the original use of words. This should be similar to the task of speaking to someone who fails to understand a musical work, saying things like, "Try listening to it this way," or "Compare this phrase with that one." There is likely no single method for this, and what constitutes effective advice depends on the person. There is no guarantee that it will work.

In this book, I have attempted to reconstruct his entire philosophy as an activity that teaches us the point of our use of language. I would be happy if this book manages to depict, even slightly, a form of "critique" that is different from demonstrating an opponent's error.

Yuki Tanida

Seidosha

264 pages, 2,640 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are those at the time of publication.

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