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Eye
&
Mind
The
IDSVA
Journal
of
Philosophy,
Aesthetics,
and
Art
Theory
Volume
1,
Issue
1,
Spring
2012
TO
TELL
A
RIDDLE:
Metaphysics,
Aesthetics
and
Ethics
in
the
Philosophy
of
Ludwig
Wittgenstein
There are probably few philosophers who were more endowed with such a keen aesthetic sense of the p
possibility of philosophical language as Wittgenstein was. Perhaps only Nietzsche exceeds him in this respec
Regardless of whether such an assertion can be substantiated or not, I should very much like to take seriousl
claim
that
we
cannot
entirely
understand
the
better
part
of
what
Wittgenstein
has
to
say
unless
we
read
him
approaching
the
philosophical
discourse
Mirst
and
foremost
as
a
form
of
poetic
composition.
[1]
Some
of
Wittgensteins
commentators,
unfortunately,
have
regarded
this
suggestion
as
more-or-less
superMluous.
author
is
Peter
Carruthers.
Anyone
can
see,
he
notes,
that
the
Tractatus:
is
a
work
of
extraordinary
beauty;
yet
what
makes
it
attractive
is
partially
responsible
for
its
obscurit
Firstly,
because
it
is
written
in
the
style
of
pithy
aphorism,
without
properly
developed
explanations
o
its
own
doctrines.
And
secondly,
because
it
is
mostly
presented
in
the
form
of
oracular
statements,
without
supporting
arguments.
.
.
.
Such
a
mode
of
writing
serves
no
one
well.
In
attempting
to
ride
two
horses
at
once
(truth
and
beauty),
it
risks
falling
between
them.
In
philosophy
it
is
clarity
and
explicitness
that
matter
above
all.
For
only
what
is
plainly
stated
can
be
reliably
assessed
for
truth.
This
assessment
of
the
Tractatus
is
unfortunately
all
too
common
of
overly
analytic
interpretations,
all
of
wh
and
large,
fail
to
grasp
the
essential
importance
that
aesthetics
plays
in
the
communication
of
ideas.
1 of 1
4/29/12 8:43 PM