Post Doctoral Fellows
Lalruat Fela
Ph.D., NEHU
Email: ph341@uohyd.ac.in
Research Interests: Wittgenstein, social and political philosophy
Supervisor: Prof. Laxminarayan Lenka
Research Area/Title: Wittgenstein and Modern Western Civilization
Wittgenstein criticised the culture he belongs to, as seen in several remarks. Some of his work can be seen and interpreted as his attitude toward modern Western civilisation. In Culture and Value, there are remarks on his dissatisfaction and discontent with the state of the civilization in which he has been living which brought about the two great wars along with the culmination of the scientific and industrial revolution. In connection with these circumstances, he has stated that he does not understand this civilization and he is alien to its values. On the other hand, Wittgenstein’s philosophy is grounded on his criticism of how philosophy has been done in the past and changing that mode of activity is an important aim of his philosophy. As GH Von Wright has suggested that there is a connection between the criticism of his time and philosophy, and he has pointed out the question which one has to answer to find these connections. This paper is an attempt to find a connection between his criticism of modern Western Civilization and his criticism of how philosophy has been done. Still, there has not been an attempt to understand his concept of philosophy in relation to his time. We can find his writings on language, ethics, aesthetics, religion, epistemology, and individuals. In Wittgenstein’s writings, there are no theoretical developments on these topics. But, as he has pointed out, this understanding must be in relation to the human form of life. Roughly, we can say that according to Wittgenstein, philosophy should study the language used by human beings in their everyday life and activity, and it should compare the language used in this different context when considering the meaning of a language. My research tries to understand Wittgenstein’s works as works on culture, reflecting his attitude toward modern western civilisation and his attitude towards life in general. It tries to understand the relationship between Wittgenstein’s criticism of Modern Western Civilization and his conception of philosophy.