Abstract
Many theorists have focused on Wittgenstein’s use of examples , but I argue that examples form only half of his method. Rather than continuing the disjointed style of his Cambridge Lectures , Wittgenstein returns to the techniques he employed while teaching elementary school . Philosophical Investigations (PI) trains the reader as a math class trains a student—‘by means of examples and by exercises’ (§208). Its numbered passages, carefully arranged, provide a series of demonstrations and practice problems. I guide the reader through one such series, demonstrating how the exercises build upon one another and give us ample opportunity to hone our problem-solving skills . Through careful practice , we learn to pass the test Wittgenstein poses when he claims that something is ‘easy to imagine’ (§19). Whereas other critics have viewed the Investigations as merely a diagnosis of our philosophical delusions, I claim that Wittgenstein also writes a prescription for our disease: Do your exercises.
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Notes
- 1.
Following convention, titles for Wittgenstein’s works are abbreviated (CV = Culture and Value, PO = Philosophical Occasions, PI = Philosophical Investigations, WN = Wittgenstein’s Nachlass), with section (§) or page number (p.), with full citation and initials in the References.
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McClure, E. (2017). Do Your Exercises: Reader Participation in Wittgenstein’s Investigations . In: Peters, M., Stickney, J. (eds) A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3136-6_10
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