On Being in the World: Wittgenstein and Heidegger on Seeing Aspects

217 Pages·2014·7.732 MB·English

by  Stephen Mulhall

Routledge Revivals
On Being in the World
On Being in the World, first published in 1990, illumines a neglected
but important area of Wittgenstein’s philosophy, revealing its perti-
nence to the central concerns of contemporary philosophy.
The starting point is the idea of ‘continuous aspect perception’, which
connects Wittgenstein’s treatment of certain issues relating to aes-
thetics with fundamental questions in the philosophy of psychology.
Professor Mulhall indicates parallels between Wittgenstein’s interests
and Heidegger’s Being and Time, demonstrating that Wittgenstein’s
investigation of aspect perception is designed to cast light on much
more than a bizarre type of visual experience: in reality, it highlights
what is distinctively human about our behaviour in relation to things
in the world, what it is that distinguishes our practical activity from
that of automata.
On Being in the World remains an invaluable resource for students of
Wittgenstein’s philosophy, as well as anyone interested in negotiating
the division between analytic and continental philosophy.
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On Being in the World
Wittgenstein and Heidegger on Seeing Aspects
Stephen Mulhall
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
Firstpublishedin1990
byRoutledge&KeganPaulLtd
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ON BEING IN THE
WORLD
Wittgensteina nd Heidegger on Seeing
Aspects
STEPHEN MULHALL
ROUTLEDGE
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1990
by Routledge
II New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneouslyp ublished in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
a division of Routledge,C hapmana nd Hall, Inc.
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1990 StephenM ulhall
Data convertedt o 1O/12pt Baskerville
by Columns of Reading
Printed in Great Britain by
TJ Press (Padstow) Ltd, Padsto w, Cornwall
All rights reserved.N o part of this book may be reprinted or
reproducedo r utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical,o r other means, now known or hereafteri nvented,
including photocopyinga nd recording, or in any information
storageo r retrieval system, without permissioni n writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Mulhall, Stephen
On being in the world: Wittgenstein and Heideggero n seeing aspects
1. Man. Perception.H uman perception.T heorieso fWittgenstein,L udwig
(1889-1951) and Heidegger, Martin (1889-1976)
1. Title
121'. 3
ISBN 0-415-04416-2
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Mulhall, Stephen,
On being in the world: Wittgenstein and Heideggero n seeing aspects/
StephenM ulhall.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-415-04416-2
1. Visual perception. 2. Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1889-1951).
3. Heidegger, Martin (1889-1976). 4. Davidson, Donald, (1917-).
5. Languages- Philosophy. 6. Psychology- Philosophy. 1. Title.
BF241.M85 1990
121'. 3-dc20 89-35985
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
1 DEFINING TERMS 6
Aspect-dawninga nd a picture of vision 6
Picture-objectsa nd continuousa spectp erception 15
Pictures and regarding-as 21
Aspects,a spect-blindnessa, nd the paradox ofa spect-dawning 28
2 ASPECTSA ND LANGUAGE 35
The experienceo fm eaning 35
The physiognomyo fw ords 40
Primary and secondarym eaning 45
3 ASPECTSO F THE PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY 53
Myths of the inner 53
Conceptso f the inner 60
Aspectsa nd the inner 71
Blind to the inner 78
4 OPPOSINGT RADITIONS 91
Davidson'sp hilosophyo f language 91
The metaphysicaflo undations 99
A continentalp erspective 106
Preliminary findings 120
5 GRAMMAR, METAPHYSICS, AND
CONCEPT- MASTERY 123
The universality ofa spectp erception 126
VB
CONTENTS
Grammar and metaphysics 137
A transitional diagnosis 152
6 ICONS, GESTURES,A ND AESTHETICS 156
Icons 160
Gestures 177
Conclusion 196
Bibliography 203
Index 205
Vlll
ABBREVIATIONS
BT M. Heidegger,B eing and Time
BW M. Heidegger,B asic Writings
CR S. Cavell, The Claim of Reason
CV L. Wittgenstein, Culture and Value
GSR G. Steiner, George Steiner: A Reader
ITI D. Davidson, Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation
LC L. Wittgenstein, Lectures and Conversationso n Aesthetics,P sycho-
logy and Religious Belief
LW L. Wittgenstein, Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology
PI L. Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
RPP L. Wittgenstein, Remarkso n the Philosophy of Psychology
IX