Wittgenstein on Simile as the “Best Thing” in Philosophy1

Philosophical Investigations 35 (2):127-137 (2011)
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Abstract

In a remark written sometime between 1933 and 1943, Wittgenstein suggests that philosophy ought really to be written as one “writes a poem.” Around this time he also talks of simile as the “best thing” in philosophy. In this paper I consider what it would mean to take such claims seriously. Through examining newly discovered material from the Skinner manuscripts, I offer an analysis of Wittgenstein's approach to literary techniques and see how this impacts on his conception of philosophy

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2012

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10.1111/j.1467-9205.2011.01444.x

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References found in this work

Zettel.Ludwig Wittgenstein - 1967 - Oxford,: Blackwell. Edited by G. E. M. Anscombe & G. H. von Wright.
Philosophical investigations.Ludwig Wittgenstein & G. E. M. Anscombe - 1953 - Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 161:124-124.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (trans. Pears and McGuinness).Ludwig Wittgenstein - 1921 - New York,: Routledge. Edited by Luciano Bazzocchi & P. M. S. Hacker.
Tractatus logico-philosophicus.Ludwig Wittgenstein - 1922 - Filosoficky Casopis 52:336-341.
Models and metaphors.Max Black - 1962 - Ithaca, N.Y.,: Cornell University Press.

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