Józef Bremer. Ludwig Wittgenstein a Religia - Wprowadzenie [Ludwig Wittgenstein and Religion - Introduction

Jan Wawrzyniak

doi:10.35765/forphil.2003.0801.19

Abstract

Józef Bremer's book, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Religion, is the first extensive Polish commentary on Wittgenstein's philosophy of religion and is worth reading even if for no other reason. As author suggests in the subtitle, the book is not intended for specialists. However, it is difficult to understand the arguments without a general knowledge of Wittgenstein's philosophy. It has a loose structure and can be regarded as a collection of essays preceded by a chapter introducing the problems of Wittgenstein's philosophy. The task which the author has undertaken is very ambitious, because even a sketchy presentation and interpretation of Wittgenstein's remarks on religion is difficult - precisely because it is sketchy. There are several reasons for this. First, understanding Wittgenstein's views concerning religion requires a perfect understanding of all aspects of his philosophy, since it is impossible to separate his considerations on religion from the rest of his investigations. Secondly, Wittgenstein's writings are full of ambiguous aphorisms and not always conclusive mini-dialogues, which is why there exist many alternative interpretations of his texts. Thirdly, only a few of his notes about religion have been published.

Highlights

Jözef Bremer's book, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Religion, is the first extensive Polish commentary on Wittgenstein's philosophy of religion and is worth reading even if for no other reason
In his book Bremer takes into account all of Wittgenstein's crucial remarks referring to religion. He shows the connections between Wittgenstein's philosophy of religion and other philosophical questions with which he was concerned. He underlines that according to the author of the Tractatus the main purpose of philosophy is description, not explanation
The most important defect is the repeated use of texts from Wittgenstein's 'later' period to elucidate the doctrine of the Tractatus

Summary

Introduction

Jözef Bremer's book, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Religion, is the first extensive Polish commentary on Wittgenstein's philosophy of religion and is worth reading even if for no other reason. The task which the author has undertaken is very ambitious, because even a sketchy presentation and interpretation of Wittgenstein's remarks on religion is difficult - precisely because it is sketchy. In his book Bremer takes into account all of Wittgenstein's crucial remarks referring to religion.

Results

Conclusion