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Project:Why are some of Wittgenstein’s texts missing from this website?: Difference between revisions
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<p style="text-align: center;">By Michele Lavazza</p> | <p style="text-align: center;">By Michele Lavazza<ref group="N">The author would like to thank Ms Lorenza De Meo for providing an expert review of this text.</ref></p> | ||
<p style="text-align: center;">28 December 2021</p> | |||
<div style="border: 1px solid silver; border-radius: 3px; padding: 20px;">''This essay in a nutshell: Most of Wittgenstein’s works we are used to refering to by a book title were published posthumously, in some cases with little intervention by his literary executors, in some other cases after undergoing extensive editing. This poses a copyright issue, because the editor’s work might add a further “layer” of intellectual property protection. The Ludwig Wittgenstein Project is determined to treat copyright issues with the greatest care and will only publish texts the copyright status of which is beyond a reasonable doubt. This article should be considered a Ludwig Wittgenstein Project policy statement as of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}.''</div> | <div style="border: 1px solid silver; border-radius: 3px; padding: 20px;">''This essay in a nutshell: Most of Wittgenstein’s works we are used to refering to by a book title were published posthumously, in some cases with little intervention by his literary executors, in some other cases after undergoing extensive editing. This poses a copyright issue, because the editor’s work might add a further “layer” of intellectual property protection. The Ludwig Wittgenstein Project is determined to treat copyright issues with the greatest care and will only publish texts the copyright status of which is beyond a reasonable doubt. This article should be considered a Ludwig Wittgenstein Project policy statement as of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}.''</div> | ||
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Wittgenstein wrote a lot, but published little. A very short, and hilarious, review of Peter Coffey’s ''The Science of Logic''. The ''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus''. A dictionary, or rather a spelling book, for German-speaking schoolchildren. An academic article by the title ''Some Remarks on Logical Form''. A letter to the editor of ''Mind''. | Wittgenstein wrote a lot, but published little. A very short, and hilarious, review of Peter Coffey’s ''The Science of Logic''. The ''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus''. A dictionary, or rather a spelling book, for German-speaking schoolchildren. An academic article by the title ''Some Remarks on Logical Form''. A letter to the editor of ''Mind''. | ||
Almost everything we now have in volume format—in such a way that we can step into a bookshop and say “I’m looking for a copy of…”—was published posthumously. After Wittgenstein died in 1951, his appointed literary executors, G.E.M. Anscombe and G.H. von Wright, were left with the task of sorting and grouping his handwritten notes and typescripts in order to publish them.<ref>For more details, see von Wright, G.H. (1969). "The Wittgenstein Papers". Philosophical Review. 78 (4): 483–503.</ref> | Almost everything we now have in volume format—in such a way that we can step into a bookshop and say “I’m looking for a copy of…”—was published posthumously. After Wittgenstein died in 1951, his appointed literary executors, G.E.M. Anscombe and G.H. von Wright, were left with the task of sorting and grouping his handwritten notes and typescripts in order to publish them.<ref>For more details, see von Wright, G.H. (1969). "The Wittgenstein Papers". ''Philosophical Review''. 78 (4): 483–503.</ref> | ||
[[File:Ludwig Wittgenstein.jpg|thumb|upright|right|link=|Ludwig Wittgenstein (Vienna, 1889 – Cambridge, 1951). Photo by Moritz Nähr.]] | [[File:Ludwig Wittgenstein.jpg|thumb|upright|right|link=|Ludwig Wittgenstein (Vienna, 1889 – Cambridge, 1951). Photo by Moritz Nähr.]] | ||
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As we mentioned above, in some cases the publishing history of a book is very clear, and Wittgenstein is indeed the sole author of the ''Philosophical Investigations''. | As we mentioned above, in some cases the publishing history of a book is very clear, and Wittgenstein is indeed the sole author of the ''Philosophical Investigations''. | ||
In other cases, books published under Wittgenstein’s name contain nothing that was in fact written by Wittgenstein: this is the case, for example, with the ''Lectures on the Freedom of Will'' and the ''Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief'',<ref>“The first thing to be said about this book is that nothing contained herein was written by Wittgenstein himself. The notes published here are not Wittgenstein's own lecture notes but notes taken down by students, which he neither saw nor checked.” Barrett, C. (1976). Preface. Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief. By Wittgenstein, L. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, p. vii.</ref> that are collections of notes taken by his students. Here the situation is also clear: these will not be out of copyright until the term expires for those who took the notes. Even if the purpose of these scribes was probably to be as faithful as possible to Wittgenstein’s speech, that is to say they were actively trying to avoid being original, any rendering of a text that is not word-by-word does indeed generate a new layer of copyright. | In other cases, books published under Wittgenstein’s name contain nothing that was in fact written by Wittgenstein: this is the case, for example, with the ''Lectures on the Freedom of Will'' and the ''Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief'',<ref>“The first thing to be said about this book is that nothing contained herein was written by Wittgenstein himself. The notes published here are not Wittgenstein's own lecture notes but notes taken down by students, which he neither saw nor checked.” Barrett, C. (1976). Preface. ''Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief''. By Wittgenstein, L. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, p. vii.</ref> that are collections of notes taken by his students. Here the situation is also clear: these will not be out of copyright until the term expires for those who took the notes. Even if the purpose of these scribes was probably to be as faithful as possible to Wittgenstein’s speech, that is to say they were actively trying to avoid being original, any rendering of a text that is not word-by-word does indeed generate a new layer of copyright. | ||
Then there are midway cases, and it is with them, of course, that problems arise. | Then there are midway cases, and it is with them, of course, that problems arise. | ||
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One last thing. The fact that an original-language text is missing from this website does not entail that it is still copyrighted. It could mean that, so far, we are not sure enough that it is safe to consider it out of copyright; but it could also mean that, so far, we didn’t have the resources to digitize it and put it online. The work goes on. | One last thing. The fact that an original-language text is missing from this website does not entail that it is still copyrighted. It could mean that, so far, we are not sure enough that it is safe to consider it out of copyright; but it could also mean that, so far, we didn’t have the resources to digitize it and put it online. The work goes on. | ||
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