Leading a Human Life: Wittgenstein, Intentionality, and Romanticism (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780226203133)

In this provocative new study, Richard Eldridge presents a highly original and compelling account of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, one of the most enduring yet enigmatic works of the twentieth century. He does so by reading the text as a dramatization of what is perhaps life's central motivating struggle-the inescapable human need to pursue an ideal of expressive freedom within the difficult terms set by culture.

Eldridge sees Wittgenstein as a Romantic protagonist, engaged in an ongoing internal dialogue over the nature of intentional consciousness, ranging over ethics, aesthetics, and philosophy of mind. The picture of the human mind that emerges through this dialogue unsettles behaviorism, cognitivism, and all other scientifically oriented orthodoxies. Leading a human life becomes a creative act, akin to writing a poem, of continuously seeking to overcome both complacency and skepticism. Eldridge's careful reconstruction of the central motive of Wittgenstein's work will influence all subsequent scholarship on it.

Author: Richard Eldridge
ISBN-10: 0226203131
ISBN-13: 9780226203133
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Language: English
Published: 10/27/1997
Pages: 307
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.96lbs
Size: 9.08h x 6.09w x 0.68d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 09/01/1997 pg. 184