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A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education, 2017
Wittgenstein’s method of doing philosophy with a therapeutic purpose has a direct bearing on curr... more Wittgenstein’s method of doing philosophy with a therapeutic purpose has a direct bearing on current debates about the propriety of therapeutic education. Many detractors of therapeutic education worry that the practice contributes to a secular understanding of the self and of personal responsibility that is morally bankrupt and damaging to both individuals and society. They worry that therapeutic education teaches students to think of themselves as damaged and to think of their actions as rooted in their wounds rather than in autonomous choices. In that spirit, such critics of therapeutic education call for a return to a “traditional” academic curriculum, and to a view of individuals as morally capable and culpable. While such complaints might be valid for some particular therapeutic educational programs, Wittgenstein’s manner of examining and healing himself through the process of philosophical reflection demonstrates the soundness of therapeutic education, at least in principle. Wittgenstein’s example shows that the sort of open-ended examinations of self, morality, and one’s conception of the world associated with therapeutic education is essential to the development of moral depth and spiritual well-being rather than being antithetical to them. Critics of therapeutic education may be hostile to Wittgenstein’s example of moral and spiritual seeking because they are wedded to the ideas of moral and religious truth rooted in what Charles Taylor identifies as having evolved during the Reformation, whereas Wittgenstein’s own method is more in keeping with a progressive religious outlook that emerged in the cultural revolution of the 1960s.
В статье рассматриваются основные направления и мероприятия по приоритетному Национальному проект... more В статье рассматриваются основные направления и мероприятия по приоритетному Национальному проекту «Здоровье». Сделан упор на анализ текущего состояния здравоохранения, отмечены перспективы реализации национального проекта на территории Уральского федерального округа в разрезе его субъектов. Подробно освещен ряд уже проведенных мероприятий в рамках Национального проекта «Здоровье», в частности, внедрение передовых информационных технологий и новейших научных разработок в медицине
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2015
The concept of ‘‘true religion’’ is out of vogue with philosophers today, but it was once common ... more The concept of ‘‘true religion’’ is out of vogue with philosophers today, but it was once common and important in the discipline. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Hume, Spinoza, Mill, Reid, Schleiermacher, Kant and others engaged lively and interesting discussions about the grounds of religion in human nature, and the forms that ‘‘true religion’’ might take in happy and healthy human lives. They regularly used the expression ‘‘natural religion’’ to refer to faiths properly grounded in human nature, a use quite different from today’s, and they tried to map the features and possibilities of authentic faith. Hume et al. were also interested in the sort of theological and metaphysical questions that interest contemporary philosophers, but not to the exclusion of questions of the first sort. In his latest book, Gordon Graham tries to revive philosophical discussion of true religion by way of Wittgenstein. He argues that Wittgenstein’s later philosophy alerts us to religious sensibilities that are natural to human beings, but which can be stymied or fostered, much the way that our musical sensibilities can be dampened or cultivated. To neglect the development of our spiritual sensibility is to be impoverished, to some extent, as one would be impoverished by a profound insensitivity to music. Thus do ‘‘Wittgenstein’s philosophical investigations ... reveal interesting dimensions of human nature that speak to the proper role of religion’’ in lives that are both personally and socially well-ordered, according to Graham (7). In fact, Graham is bitterly opposed to any and all readings of Wittgenstein that claim him as ally or adversary in debates of theistic metaphysics, that is, in philosophy of religion of the sort commonly practiced today. Graham believes that Wittgenstein has no bearing whatsoever on those debates, and he devotes about half of his book to arguments
Religious Studies, 2011
Wittgenstein's remarks on religion suggest a provocative and nuanced account of what makes ri... more Wittgenstein's remarks on religion suggest a provocative and nuanced account of what makes rituals meaningful – and why some living rituals might have little or no meaning despite their hold on congregants. Wittgenstein's view has been obscured, I argue, in part by the consistent misinterpretation of his controversial ‘scapegoat remark’, which has been taken to be a comment on the internal incoherence of the ancient Jewish scapegoat rite. In fact, Wittgenstein's point is that the scapegoat ritual is particularly easy to misinterpret, and so reflection on it helps illustrate the sort of confusion that plagues much thinking about religion and ritual.
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2013
I argue that Wittgenstein’s grammatical method is a form of therapy intended to help us to escape... more I argue that Wittgenstein’s grammatical method is a form of therapy intended to help us to escape the evasions of philosophical theory and to use our language honestly. Real solutions to the problems that trouble us in life are only possible if we can think about them clearly and truthfully.
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2007
It is well understood that Wittgenstein defends religious faith against positivistic criticisms o... more It is well understood that Wittgenstein defends religious faith against positivistic criticisms on the grounds of its logical independence. But exactly how are we to understand the nature of that independence? Most scholars take Wittgenstein to equate language-games with belief-systems, and thus to assert that religions are logical schemes founded on their own basic beliefs and principles of inference. By contrast, I argue that on Wittgenstein’s view, to have religious faith is to hold fast to a certain picture of the world according to which one orients one’s actions and attitudes, possibly even in dogmatic defiance of contrary evidence. Commitment to such a picture is grounded in passion, not intellection, and systematic coherence is largely irrelevant.
A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education, 2017
Wittgenstein’s method of doing philosophy with a therapeutic purpose has a direct bearing on curr... more Wittgenstein’s method of doing philosophy with a therapeutic purpose has a direct bearing on current debates about the propriety of therapeutic education. Many detractors of therapeutic education worry that the practice contributes to a secular understanding of the self and of personal responsibility that is morally bankrupt and damaging to both individuals and society. They worry that therapeutic education teaches students to think of themselves as damaged and to think of their actions as rooted in their wounds rather than in autonomous choices. In that spirit, such critics of therapeutic education call for a return to a “traditional” academic curriculum, and to a view of individuals as morally capable and culpable. While such complaints might be valid for some particular therapeutic educational programs, Wittgenstein’s manner of examining and healing himself through the process of philosophical reflection demonstrates the soundness of therapeutic education, at least in principle. Wittgenstein’s example shows that the sort of open-ended examinations of self, morality, and one’s conception of the world associated with therapeutic education is essential to the development of moral depth and spiritual well-being rather than being antithetical to them. Critics of therapeutic education may be hostile to Wittgenstein’s example of moral and spiritual seeking because they are wedded to the ideas of moral and religious truth rooted in what Charles Taylor identifies as having evolved during the Reformation, whereas Wittgenstein’s own method is more in keeping with a progressive religious outlook that emerged in the cultural revolution of the 1960s.
В статье рассматриваются основные направления и мероприятия по приоритетному Национальному проект... more В статье рассматриваются основные направления и мероприятия по приоритетному Национальному проекту «Здоровье». Сделан упор на анализ текущего состояния здравоохранения, отмечены перспективы реализации национального проекта на территории Уральского федерального округа в разрезе его субъектов. Подробно освещен ряд уже проведенных мероприятий в рамках Национального проекта «Здоровье», в частности, внедрение передовых информационных технологий и новейших научных разработок в медицине
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2015
The concept of ‘‘true religion’’ is out of vogue with philosophers today, but it was once common ... more The concept of ‘‘true religion’’ is out of vogue with philosophers today, but it was once common and important in the discipline. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Hume, Spinoza, Mill, Reid, Schleiermacher, Kant and others engaged lively and interesting discussions about the grounds of religion in human nature, and the forms that ‘‘true religion’’ might take in happy and healthy human lives. They regularly used the expression ‘‘natural religion’’ to refer to faiths properly grounded in human nature, a use quite different from today’s, and they tried to map the features and possibilities of authentic faith. Hume et al. were also interested in the sort of theological and metaphysical questions that interest contemporary philosophers, but not to the exclusion of questions of the first sort. In his latest book, Gordon Graham tries to revive philosophical discussion of true religion by way of Wittgenstein. He argues that Wittgenstein’s later philosophy alerts us to religious sensibilities that are natural to human beings, but which can be stymied or fostered, much the way that our musical sensibilities can be dampened or cultivated. To neglect the development of our spiritual sensibility is to be impoverished, to some extent, as one would be impoverished by a profound insensitivity to music. Thus do ‘‘Wittgenstein’s philosophical investigations ... reveal interesting dimensions of human nature that speak to the proper role of religion’’ in lives that are both personally and socially well-ordered, according to Graham (7). In fact, Graham is bitterly opposed to any and all readings of Wittgenstein that claim him as ally or adversary in debates of theistic metaphysics, that is, in philosophy of religion of the sort commonly practiced today. Graham believes that Wittgenstein has no bearing whatsoever on those debates, and he devotes about half of his book to arguments
Religious Studies, 2011
Wittgenstein's remarks on religion suggest a provocative and nuanced account of what makes ri... more Wittgenstein's remarks on religion suggest a provocative and nuanced account of what makes rituals meaningful – and why some living rituals might have little or no meaning despite their hold on congregants. Wittgenstein's view has been obscured, I argue, in part by the consistent misinterpretation of his controversial ‘scapegoat remark’, which has been taken to be a comment on the internal incoherence of the ancient Jewish scapegoat rite. In fact, Wittgenstein's point is that the scapegoat ritual is particularly easy to misinterpret, and so reflection on it helps illustrate the sort of confusion that plagues much thinking about religion and ritual.
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2013
I argue that Wittgenstein’s grammatical method is a form of therapy intended to help us to escape... more I argue that Wittgenstein’s grammatical method is a form of therapy intended to help us to escape the evasions of philosophical theory and to use our language honestly. Real solutions to the problems that trouble us in life are only possible if we can think about them clearly and truthfully.
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2007
It is well understood that Wittgenstein defends religious faith against positivistic criticisms o... more It is well understood that Wittgenstein defends religious faith against positivistic criticisms on the grounds of its logical independence. But exactly how are we to understand the nature of that independence? Most scholars take Wittgenstein to equate language-games with belief-systems, and thus to assert that religions are logical schemes founded on their own basic beliefs and principles of inference. By contrast, I argue that on Wittgenstein’s view, to have religious faith is to hold fast to a certain picture of the world according to which one orients one’s actions and attitudes, possibly even in dogmatic defiance of contrary evidence. Commitment to such a picture is grounded in passion, not intellection, and systematic coherence is largely irrelevant.