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Wittgenstein’s philosophy of liberation - ABC Religion & Ethics

abc.net.au · 3,606 words · saved by 1 readers

The key to understanding Ludwig Wittgenstein’s later philosophy — especially his Philosophical Investigations — is to understand its liberatory intent. It is philosophy that enables liberation from compulsive and destructive patterns of thought: “our goal is to break the thrall in which certain forms of expression hold us.” While this is a task for every person, we will not accomplish it except together.

Share Facebook X (formerly Twitter) I’ve just published a book which argues that the key to understanding Ludwig Wittgenstein’s later philosophy — especially as expressed in his masterwork, Philosophical Investigations (1958) — is to understand its liberatory intent. Its design is to help free one. What is “liberatory” philosophy? It is philosophy that enables liberation of the user from compulsive (and destructive) patterns of thought, freeing one to do or for things previously obscured. Liberation is our prime goal in philosophy. It is the telos of Wittgenstein’s primary mode in philosophy:

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