20th Century German Philosophy, European Philosophy - General & Miscellaneous, History of Philosophy

Expressing the World: Skepticism, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger

Name: Expressing the World: Skepticism, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger
Author: Anthony Rudd
ISBN: 9780812695342

by Anthony Rudd

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Overview

In this original and provocative book, Anthony Rudd flouts convention in his approach to the problem of skepticism. He brings Wittgensteinian and analytic philosophy into dialogue with Heidegger's work and the continental tradition, schools of thought that are normally considered antipathetic to one another. Drawing heavily on some often neglected aspects of Wittgenstein and Heidegger, Professor Rudd argues that so long as we consider our knowledge of external realities to be a purely intellectual matter, skepticism will remain irrefutable. Genuine knowledge can be established, though, if we understand it as essentially tied to patterns of practical activity and our emotional lives.

Synopsis

This thoughtful book argues that skepticism — the view that reliable knowledge is beyond our grasp — is unavoidable unless knowledge is thought of not as merely an intellectual matter but as crucial to practical activity and emotional life. Author Anthony Rudd ties this idea to the work of Wittgenstein and Heidegger, exploring important similarities between the former’s reminders of the “expressive” character of human experience and the latter’s account of ways to experience the physical world “expressively.”