Towards Ludwig Wittgenstein’s ethical relativism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/lie.37Keywords:
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rush Rhees, ethical relativism, ethicsAbstract
The article is a commentary on Rush Rhees’s paper Some developments in Wittgenstein’s view of ethics which appeared in “The Philosophical Review” in 1965. Rhees’s article falls into two parts. The first one features mainly the author’s comments on Wittgenstein’s Lecture on ethics, whereas in the second one Rhees relates a discussion on ethics which he had with Wittgenstein in the late period of the latter’s life. It is the second part that I focus on in my article and I consider points where Wittgenstein’s view of ethics has changed. Two most significant traits of his new approach are: the shift from analysing Ethics in itself to analysing various systems of ethics, and relativism. I discuss possible causes and consequences of this standpoint and its relation to Wittgenstein’s earlier thoughts about ethics.
References
Glock H.-J., Słownik Wittgensteinowski, tłum. M. Hernik, M. Szczubiałka, Warszawa 2001.
Wittgenstein L., Dzienniki 1914–1916, tłum. M. Poręba, Warszawa 1999.
Wittgenstein L., Tractatus logico-philosophicus, tłum. B. Wolniewicz, Warszawa 1997.
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