Event:Wittgenstein Between Formalism and Romanticism
Wittgenstein Between Formalism and Romanticism
download iCalendar (ICS) file (for Outlook/Apple Calendar) – 
add to Google Calendar)Wittgenstein Between Formalism and Romanticism: Postmetaphysical philosophy and philosophy of logic
Modern analytic philosophy is often associated with logic, precision, and formal methods. Yet the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein was shaped not only by developments in logic and the foundations of mathematics but also by literary and Romantic reflections on the limits of language. This two-day masterclass examines how these seemingly opposed traditions—formalism and Romanticism—jointly illuminate Wittgenstein’s view that philosophical problems arise from what he famously called the “mythology in our language.“
The first part of the masterclass investigates the role of formalist ideas in the development of Wittgenstein’s early philosophy, particularly in the period following the publication of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Discussions will explore how debates about the foundations of mathematics and logic influenced Wittgenstein’s rejection of metaphysical explanations and his later emphasis on the idea that meaning is grounded in use.
The second part turns to themes that resonate with the Romantic tradition, including the limits of language, the ethical and religious dimensions of what cannot be said, and the philosophical significance of literary reflection. Particular attention will be given to Wittgenstein’s remarks on philosophical method in the preface to Philosophical Investigations and their parallels with literary reflections on creativity and expression in works such as Kubla Khan and The Prelude.
A central theme of the masterclass is Wittgenstein’s diagnosis of philosophical confusion. On the one hand, the forms of language themselves can mislead us, encouraging us to treat grammatical appearances as if they revealed deep metaphysical structures. On the other hand, philosophers are often tempted to model their work on the explanatory methods of the natural sciences. By situating Wittgenstein between formalism and Romanticism, the masterclass aims to clarify his distinctive conception of philosophy: not as theory-building but as a practice that dissolves philosophical confusion by attending to the role of language in human life.
he aim of this masterclass is to provide graduate students with a deeper understanding of the intellectual background and methodological ambitions of Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language, while also highlighting the broader relationship between analytic philosophy and the humanistic traditions of literature, ethics, and cultural reflection. By examining Wittgenstein’s work at the intersection of formal logic, the critique of scientific method in philosophy, and Romantic reflections on the limits of expression, the masterclass seeks to illuminate how philosophical problems arise and how they might be addressed without losing sight of the human practices in which language is embedded.
More specifically, the objectives are:
- to situate Wittgenstein’s philosophy within the broader context of debates about formalism, logic, and the foundations of mathematics in early analytic philosophy;
- to explore how literary and Romantic traditions informed Wittgenstein’s reflections on language, expression, ethics, and the limits of what can be said;
- to examine Wittgenstein’s diagnosis of philosophical confusion as arising both from misleading features of language and from the tendency to model philosophy on the explanatory methods of science;
- to highlight the humanistic dimension of analytic philosophy by showing how questions about meaning, understanding, and expression connect logical analysis with broader concerns about culture, creativity, and human life
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