WITTGENSTEIN ON THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY

Abstract

This paper will be an attempt to present Wittgenstein's understanding of the nature of philosophy as mentioned in his Philosophical Investigations. It will deal with the way Wittgenstein sees philosophy as a discipline, his views on the tasks of philosophy, matters philosophy should avoid and those it should aspire to, the role of philosophy as such, the nature of philosophical problems etc. First, the traditional view of philosophy, criticized by Wittgenstein, will be presented, followed by the general points of Wittgenstein's views of philosophy presented in his Philosophical lnvestigations. Furthermore, those points from Philosophical Investigations will be elaborated by using Baker's late interpretation of Wittgenstein and Hacker's critique of Baker. Finally, I will try to apply Wittgenstein's understanding of philosophy on a particular philosophical problem - the problem of knowledge. The aim of this paper, after reviewing Wittgenstein's views of philosophy in his Philosophical Investigations, is to examine whether the philosophical problems are pseudoproblems or, from Wittgenstein's point of view, valid. The result of this study should show that in Wittgenstein's philosophy only a few of the traditional philosophical scenarios - and even that is open for debate - would cease to be viewed as such, and would be dismissed...