Editionspraxis, Philosophie und Zivilisationskritik: Die Geschichte von Wittgensteins Vermischten Bemerkungen

Abstract

AbstractUsing hitherto unpublished archival materials, this article reconstructs the editorial story of Wittgenstein’s Vermischte Bemerkungen (engl. edition: Culture and Value) in its historical context. The article’s starting point is the view of the editor of Vermischte Bemerkungen - Georg Henrik von Wright - that the book does not belong to Wittgenstein’s philosophical work, but that it shows Wittgenstein as “geistige Erscheinung” in relation to his times. It is argued that von Wright was particularly sensitive for the significance of Wittgenstein’s remarks on literature, music, religion and history, since their friendship rested essentially on conversations about these non-philosophical topics. The new archival materials show, however, that it needed a turn in Wright’s life and in his conception of philosophy, before he could regard a publication of Vermischte Bemerkungen as philosophically legitimate: Only after biographical and philosophical changes in the 1960s von Wright thought that occupation with public and cultural concerns may be a part of the philosopher’s work, and only in the light of this new understanding publishing Wittgenstein’s remarks on general topics seemed justified to him. Thus, Vermischte Bemerkungen is not only a portrait of Wittgenstein in relation to his times; the editorial story shows that the book is also a manifestation of von Wright’s philosophical development in relation to his own times.