Culture and Value

by Ludwig Wittgenstein

Book Overview

Peter Winch's translation of Wittgenstein's remarks on culture and value presents all entries chronologically, with the German text alongside the English and a subject index for reference.

"It was Wittgenstein's habit to record his thoughts in sequences of more or less closely related 'remarks' which he kept in notebooks throughout his life. The editor of this collection has gone through these notebooks in order to select those 'remarks' which...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226904350
• ISBN13: 9780226904351
• Release Date: May 1984
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 195 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Untangling the web

"Culture and Value" is a fascinating compilation of tidbits on art, religion and culture by the great 20th century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein grew up in the culture milieu of Vienna. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had self-destructed in WWI, but Vienna was still a center of culture and philosophy. Wittgenstein absorbed culture readily- Brahms had played for his family, Freud and Jung debated psychoanalysis in Viennese coffee shops. It was one of the epicenters of 20th century philosophy. "Culture and Value" is a compilation of Wittgenstein's personal quotations. Wittgenstein struggled with his Jewishness, Christianity, and being gay. He was an extremely conflicted man, and this book shows it. He saw himself as an unforgivable sinner. He wrote his own confessions. He was a fan of St. Augustine Confessions (Penguin Classics) along with Leo Tolstoy Leo Tolstoy: Spiritual Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters). Tolstoy and Augustine were extremely ascetic. Augustine renounced a life of pleasure for a celibate one, who even denounced the marital embrace as "overthrowing man's reason." Tolstoy had been promiscuous as a youth, and after fathering several children with his wife, withheld the marital embrace from her to show his superiority. Wittgenstein struggled with his desires for natural human things-emotions, relationships- and his desire for the divine. "Culture and Value" is a fascinating book. It shows that Wittgenstein's thinking was labyrinthine. He compares philosophers to children, and he had the capacity for childlike wonder. Wonder is, after all, the beginning of philosophy.

Smarter Than Einstein

I read Wittgenstein's commentary found in this Culture & Value shortly after reading Einstein's The World As I see It, and there were obvious similarities to be found-- but what else could one expect from such creative intellects? The commentaries of both are priceless, and truly help the reader in [i]seeing[/i] the world as these mammoth intellects did in the time on earth they shared. For there was much to be found akin these two in terms not only of time periods and political views, but religious sentiments and classical reverence. What separated the two works is something I can only now say, and it is quite profound: Whereas Einstein made brilliant commentary of the present, Wittgenstein commented on the whole of Western Civilization-- and of its future, too. It is easy to find in these short sentences the truth that W never was a Logical Positivist just as easily as it is to find in The Duty of Genius. CV was the first book I purchased in regards to W, foolishly thinking it was one of his works. However, I do not regret the purchase, as the words found therein are as priceless as any of his others. As for the essentially LW, I would also highly recommend "The Vision of Wittgenstein" by H.L. Finch, as no other Author to date has grasped the man as well as Mr. Finch. Believe me, I've been through them all.

Just A Tip

Pay close attention to Witt's writings on religion. Not systematic or consistent, but some of what he says is really informative.

Brilliant overview of the man's concerns...

This collection of Wittgenstein's "remarks" written over a time period of forty years was first published as "Vermischte Bemerkungen" in the original German in 1977. These remarks are taken from his private manuscripts and diaries, which were finally translated into English in 1980. As a vast majority of Wittgenstein's manuscripts or notebooks were written with no intent by the author for publication, it makes one wonder how the philosopher would feel about this book. He comments on a vast array of subjects from architecture, Shakespeare and music. And, of course, his philosophical musings, some remarks actually taken from his famous text, Philosophical Investigations. It would be helpful if the reader had some previous knowledge of Wittgenstein's work and life before embarking on this text, however, I don't believe it to be absolutely essential. Surprisingly, numerous remarks throughout the text can stand alone on their own merit without contextualization. On the other hand, these remarks can also contribute to a greater understanding of Wittgenstein's philosophy, thus, in the end, Culture and Value is an excellent addition to the Wittgenstein Corpus. I've come to understand that reading Wittgenstein is about a process of thought, a new method of thinking about our language and the world. Wittgenstein is not about a theory of reality but a process of thinking, asking different questions, never taking anything for granted, always pushing against conventional wisdom, pushing thought to its limits. At times these "aphorisms" can communicate as nonsense, ephemeral, disconnected, etc, but reading them slowly, immersing oneself into them, can produce some interesting results. One of my favourite aphorisms: "Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself." Or one of his descriptions of genius: "There is no more light in a genius than in any other honest man - but he has a particular kind of lens to concentrate this light into a burning point." Reading Wittgenstein's remarks gives us a point of entry into his essential concerns as a philosopher and a human being. In fact the last remarks were written in 1951, the year of his death. Culture and Value is that type of philosophical text that can be picked up occasionally over many years and one will continue to find stimulus for thought.

Great little bag of thoughts and quotations

I read this book because I heard that it was the most accessible of his books: I was not dissapointed. Accessible, wise, insightful, could all be used to describe this book. There are plenty of banal remarks not worthy of Wittgenstein's genius, but overall I enjoyed his comments on Shakespeare, Mendolsohn, Judaism, and anything else he felt like writing about. I particularly liked his comments on his personal torments and the courage it takes to be a genius.