| Kommentar |
In this course, we will bring together Plato's and Wittgenstein's discussions of negation, truth, and being. This is not an arbitrary juxtaposition: Plato's Theaetetus is a text that Wittgenstein responds to directly in the Philosophical Investigatoins--one of a very few philosophical texts to be mentioned at all.
In the first half of the semester, we will engage in close reading of parts of Plato's Theaetetus and Sophist that discuss the structure of propositions, the nature of truth, the possibility of false belief and false statements, and also negation. (The Sophist is closely tied to the Theaetetus, by both literary signals and philosophical themes.)
In the second half of the semester, we will turn to Wittgenstein, reading selections from the Tractatus and the Investigations. We will be interested both in how Wittgenstein responds explicitly to Plato and in how Wittgensteins responds indirectly (or unintentionally) to Plato.
During the second half of the course, James Conant (University of Chicago) will join as co-teacher.
Language of instruction: English. Papers may be written in German or English.
|
