Is later Wittgenstein a relativist?: an investigation on / through forms of life

Abstract

There are two main interconnected concerns of this thesis. One is to make an investigation on “forms of life” which is one of the most important notions in philosophical framework of later Wittgenstein. When Wittgenstein makes a critique of traditional philosophy and separates himself also from his early thoughts, he has given up an analytical and a very systematic way of doing philosophy about language and the relation between language and the world. Rather, he has focused on the multiplicity of language-games and forms of life which underlines the close connection between language and practices through priority of activity. After constituting the importance of forms of life in the thesis, as a second aim, related to this approach of later Wittgenstein, by making an internal reading on his works especially Philosophical Investigations, On Certainty and Zettel it will be shed light on the discussion whether usage of varied and alternative forms of life which are at the bottom of language-games endorses relativism. In later Wittgenstein, at the foundations of forms of life, there is nothing that can be either true or false, either rational or irrational. Thus, there is a common tendency to claim that this pluralistic understanding of forms of life in later Wittgenstein paves the way for relativism. But I will have a counter philosophical attitude against this tendency. Under a closer and more careful scrutiny on the general framework of later Wittgenstein, I will defend that the pluralistic kind of views about forms of life doesn’t necessarily make him a relativist. His interest on the notions such as “natural history”, “common behaviour of humankind”, his non-traditional foundationalism and his emphasis on “primitiveness” that can be recognized through his criticism against Frazer and some passages in his texts will be presented as some indicators that there cannot be radical separation and/or alienation between forms of life which is implied by relativism. In the light of my proposal about micro and macro aspects of forms of life and the mirror effect related to the interaction between forms of life, it would be claimed that liberating forms of life from relativist tag and highlighting some points such as changeability, possibility of criticism, understanding concerning the nature of our forms of life are not so distinct from each other.