On Certainty by Ludwig Wittgenstein

Did you turn the lights off in the apartment this morning? Yes, I am certain of it. What kind of certainty do we have in mind here? It seems that this kind of certainty is relative to the usual assumptions we are all willing to make on an everyday basis such as: my memory can be reasonably trusted, if I turned off the lights this morning they won't magically turn back on, the person asking me isn't looking for a mathematical proof, etc. When we study philosophy, though, we encounter skeptical arguments which can call into question many everyday assumptions we are all willing to make without much reflection. How should we synthesize these philosophical arguments with everyday practice?

In a famous essay by G. E. Moore, he argues against the skeptics and idealists that he sees as popular in philosophy at the time, and gives what he calls a proof that two human hands exist: "By holding up my two hands, and saying, as I make a certain gesture with the right hand, ‘Here is one hand’, and adding, as I make a certain gesture with the left, ‘and here is another’." Your reaction to this argument could be elated excitement that finally a philosopher is defending common sense or you may react with confusion, what does Moore think philosophy should be about?

For this week, we will take Wittgenstein in On Certainty as our guide for how to make sense of this discrepancy. Wittgenstein specifically responds to Moore's argument and provides a much more nuanced discussion of the various different language games that we play in philosophy and everyday life. For this week, I will prepare slides containing what I see as the most important aphorisms in On Certainty and we will meet to discuss these nuggets of wisdom together.

Participants should read the short essay (1 page) by Moore here and the entirety of On Certainty (90 pages) before attending this in person meeting. I will be reading from this version here and a free copy can be found here. For the brave at heart, you may also want to tackle the expanded essay by Moore which can be found here, but I don't recommend it unless you have the time and the interest. ***We will be meeting in the Seahorse classroom for this discussion***

For questions please send me a message or post to meetup.

Best,

Brian