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Sunday, April 24, 2022

Wittgenstein: Silence and Confession

The NYT International Edition recently (April 13, 2022) ran a somewhat garbled piece (cf. paragraph eight) on Ludwig Wittgenstein, who experienced his writing as a burden, and "sexuality as a burden, too, writing "frankly (and frequently) about his masturbation (or lack thereof), an activity he associated with not getting enough exercise. Sometimes commentary on work and sex would run together: "--Will I find the redemptive thought? Will it come to me??!!--Yesterday & today I masturbated."

Elsewhere, Wittegenstein said, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

I suggest: "Whereof one need not speak, thereof ought one adopt the prudence of silence."
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2 comments:

  1. Carter Kaplan5:40 AM

    Ray Monk, in his Wittgenstein: the Duty of Genius goes to great lengths documenting ALL of Wittgenstein's activities. I wish he (Monk) and quite frankly YOU (Hodges) might leave the shade of poor old Ludwig alone in his sepulcher, and moreover spare us Gypsy Scholars round the world the catalog of all these lurid details!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Horace Jeffery Hodges10:40 PM

    T'were a thing most ardently to be desired . . .

    Jeffery Hodges

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    ReplyDelete

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