Wittgenstein on Certainty

Admission requirements

Admission to this course is restricted to:

• BA students in Filosofie, who have successfully completed at least 70 ECTS credits of the mandatory components of the first and second year of their bachelor’s programme, including: Wetenschapsfilosofie and Analytische filosofie (or Language and Thought).

• BA students in Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives, who have successfully completed at least 70 ECTS credits of the mandatory components of the first and second year of their bachelor’s programme, including Philosophy of Science and Analytical Philosophy, Language and Thought.

• Pre-master’s students in Philosophy who are in possession of an admission statement and who have to complete an advanced seminar, to be selected from package C.

Description

During the course we read Wittgenstein’s last writings, where he focuses on how we say things concerning topics such as knowledge and certainty. Language brings in a form of life, a connected whole of concepts by which we think and act, thereby forming our basic certainties. Can we only speak of truth within a form of life? Can we have knowledge? Can these basic certainties change?

Wittgenstein’s On Certainty is often characterised as presenting Wittgenstein’s third phase of his philosophy, but during the course we will also note some similarities with the earlier Tractatus, especially regarding the method of philosophy.

Course objectives

Students who successfully complete the course will have a good understanding of:

• topics in philosophy of language and epistemology.

Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:

• question standard methods of philosophy as they are confronted with Wittgenstein’s special way of dealing with philosophical questions;

• present a reading of Wittgenstein in class;

• ask philosophical questions;

• discuss central topics in theoretical philosophy;

• write a paper on a relatively advanced level developing an independent position in relation to other philosophers or readers of Wittgenstein.

Timetable

The timetables are available through MyTimetable.

Mode of instruction

• Seminars

Class attendance is required.

Assessment method

Assessment

• Paper

Active participation in class is required for admission to the exam.

Weighting

• Paper: 100%

Resit

The resit covers the entire exam (100%) and consists of of paper.
Active participation in class is required for admission to the resit.
Students who have obtained a satisfactory grade for the first examination cannot take the resit.

Inspection and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.

Reading list

• Wittgenstein, On Certainty, Anscombe & Von Wright (eds.), Blackwell publishing.
  or

• Wittgenstein, Über Gewissheit, Suhrkamp.

Registration

Enrolment through MyStudymap is not possible for this course. Students are requested to submit their preferences for the third-year electives by means of an online registration form. They will receive the instruction and online registration form by email (uMail account); in June for courses scheduled in semester 1, and in December for courses scheduled in semester 2. Registration in uSis will be taken care of by the Education Administration Office.

Contact

• For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the information bar at the right hand side of the page.

• For questions about enrolment, admission, etc., contact the Education Administration Office Huizinga

Remarks

Not applicable.