Wittgenstein in a Nutshell

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[spiritualanarchist]

Wittgenstein's propositions always sounds both bleeding obvious and incredible complicated .

[ykmedia]

"Tell them I had a wonderful life."

The final words of Ludwig Wittgenstein

[fuliajulia]

It's strange that I watched this video first as a high school senior and now as a senior philosophy student. I can see why I loved your videos so much, your explanations are clear, succinct, and helpful. But one question still remains, did Wittgenstein ever think we could know there was a rhino in the room?

[EwingAmaterasu]

Michael Pierce once again proves to be the best in making videos about philosophy. How did I understood Wittgenstein? First, watching this video. Thanks to this video I got the essential knowledge to understand the Tractatus, reading it in a couple of days. Then I read the page in the Stanford page, that now I was able to understand thanks to this video and then I rewatched this video and summarised it on paper... and now I can say certainly, that I have a very clear understanding of the first Wittgenstein. If it was possible, I would really like to chat with you Michael, to speak about Myers Briggs, philosophy and to thank you for the videos you have done. Just thank you my friend.

[mathewtoll]

This is great - I've been reading Ray Monk's biography. There's always been something about Wittgenstein that I find terribly intriguing. I think it's the idea that all philosophical problems are not really problems but an artefact of getting caught up in them. It resonates with me with a bunch of stoic stuff.

[zax]

Wow. I have looked at so many other videos trying to describe to me Wittgenstein and his philosophy, but they were all so complicated that I got lost. This is astoundingly succinct and clear, wish more people did it this way.

[quintustheophilus]

Ludwig Wittgenstein has always been an intriguing philosopher. Worth studying his philosophy! Great video!

[jamesbean]

Wittgenstein made his speculations about language and its use but did not study it like it is studied today by physiological, social and cognitive scientists. A great deal has been learned and will continue to be learned about language as used, not to mention the evolution of computer languages and artificial intelligence. Were he alive he would be intrigued by the latter phenomena (perhaps more in keeping with his early approach) and the former pursuit, perhaps more in keeping with his later approach.

[FriendlyHugo]

Section headings:

1. 0:28 What can be said, can be said clearly.
2. 2:20 All philosophical problems result from people trying to say the unsayable.
3. 4:10 True philosophy is the therapeutic untangling of the linguistic inconsistencies that form its problems.
4. 5:18 The end result of true philosophy is a Taoist acceptance of existence.

I'm about to read "Philosophical Investigations" (and practice my German!). Since I'm skipping Tractatus, I'm using secondary sources to learn more about it. I really liked the overview given in this video, thank you! I need to read more to see how much is from his earlier work (Tractatus), and how much from his later work (overview at 1:38, in contrast with his earlier views expressed from 0:58).

I'll try to remember to come drop replies on this comment as I learn more. :-)

[davidedegennaro]

Very clean and concrete summary, good job. I appreciated the parallel with Taoism, something that might sound as a forced interpretation, but indeed lies on well founded arguments, as Alan Watts remarked, too. I feel that what Wittgenstein considered the most important part of his speculation was not what is included in his perfect logic reasoning, but what is left out by it, the Mystical. What lies behind our experience but cannot be said, because we do not experience it. Fortunately it “shows” itself in our everyday life.

[DrAlexVasquezICHNFM]

My first reflexive response was “why do you need patrons to make an eight minute video” but then I saw that you actually put a lot of time and detail and thought into this just like I do with my own videos some of which are only 30 minutes long and I’m sure some people look at them and think they are easy when in fact sometimes they take weeks and months of effort. So: good job :-)
Wittgenstein is particularly hard to figure out

[sadiyashiraj]

This video is the tiny caprice in my mind that kept me from understanding the utility and gravity of Wittgenstein's work. Even Wittgenstein himself acknowledge the fact of the esoteric nature of his work, which means that for all the viewers of this video you have achieved what Wittgenstein himself failed to do in the space of 7 minutes. Thank you Michael!

[Zanyotaku]

I was reading a story where one of the characters referenced Wittgenstein and wanted some basic info on him, thank you very much for this video!

[brianholden]

"He had also said that the spirits of nature communicate with human beings in hallucinations
and dreams—in other words, in mental images. This idea is common in "pre-rational" traditions.
For instance, Heraclitus said of the Pythian oracle (from the Greek puthon, "serpent") that it
"neither declares nor conceals, but gives a sign."18" - Narby

[alexthompson-nmeu]

it's like getting a lesson in philosophy from Nicolas Cage. Thank you, Michael.

[australopithecus_lucis]

one of my favorite, if not the favorite, philosophers! great video!

[kngdark.cxx]

exactly what I was looking for. so clear so concise.

[abhishekdivecha]

Thank you so much it was amazing and your voice is quite calming. Thank you :)

[pamelafrancis]

I love Wittgenstein's enquiry into the role of thought and language. The quote about trying to say the unsayable is like a koan - "a paradoxical anecdote or riddle without a solution, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and provoke enlightenment."

[recepto]

Thank you so much for this! Clearly articulated, and valuable to my own thinking!