-
QUESTION:
Dear Professor von Glasersfeld,
Thank you so much for your willingness to answer questions.
The message I receive from this is one of kindness and
consideration.I read about a third of Wittgenstein's book "On Certainty" and
laid it down because he seemed to be struggling with questions
that have been made moot by radical constructivism (which I
call the constructivist critique.) Having experienced this
shift in my epistomology, I find it hard to believe someone as
brilliant as Wittgenstein was struggling with the questions he
kept raising. Am I not understanding Wittgenstein or was
Wittgenstein indeed not understanding knowing?
Sincerely,
John Rose
ANSWER :
Dear Mr. Rose,
I wish one could put your question to Wittgenstein himself. It
baffles me a much as it baffles you. I, too have great regard
for him, but there are things in his writings that I find
incomprehensible. On p.4 of his Philosophical investigations
he makes the wonderful statement that the words of a language
act like keys of the individual's keyboard of imagination -
which places "meaning" into the head of the speaker and should
resolve the problem of "reference" once and for all. But W.
never mentions this again and struggles with ontological
reference for the rest of his life. Your question is, I think.
closely connected to this.
Don't hesitate to pursue this through this web site, if you
feel like it.
Best wishes,
Ernst von Glasersfeld
-
