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CHAPTER 17
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY:
LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN AND MARTIN
HEIDEGGER
Chapter 17 Key Concepts
By the twentieth century, philosophers were struggling
with the post-Nietzschean deconstruction of metaphysics.
Philosophical deconstruction is a kind of close textual
analysis focused on uncovering and overcoming privileges
hidden in philosophical arguments and theories texts.
Analytic philosophers stress logic, testability, precision,
and clarity. Common to this way of approaching philosophy
Continental philosophers tend to explain things not by
reducing them to simple entities but by understanding them
in a broader, holistic, historical context. This approach to
philosophy includes formalism, idealism, phenomenology,
and existentialism.
Ludwig Wittgenstein tried to show the underlying
structure of language, asserting that what can be said is what
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In the Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein questions
his own earlier work and says that the structure of language
determines the structure of thought and, therefore, the
Martin Heidegger s unique blend of phenomenology,
ontology, and existentialism grew out of his study of Edmund
Husserl s phenomenology. According to Heidegger, Husserl
saw phenomenology as the science of beings (in the plural),
The fundamental condition of humanity is concern about
our unique condition, our be-ing. Any inquiry into the nature
of human existence is, ultimately, an inquiry into the nature
of Being.
Humanity is unique in that it comports itself toward a
world rather than existing in the world. Thus, any inquiry
into the nature of human existence is, ultimately, an inquiry
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Philosophers lose sight of Being because they have
treated detached, calculative thinking as the defining
According to Heidegger, we exist without any
explanation, no matter how hard we try to make it otherwise.
When the burden and anxiety of the human condition are
Calculative technological thinking sees everything as
standing-reserve, a source of energy to be stored to await
our beck and call. This way of thinking transforms human
Chapter 17 Teaching Tips
1. Acknowledge the difficulty of this material in a
challenging and inspiring way. Advise students to be patient
2. Take class time to show how earlier philosophers can be
treated as philosophical deconstructors. Rich examples
include the Sophists treatment of justice, Hume s analysis of
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3. Discuss Nietzsche s charge that Disinterested
contemplation . . . is a rank absurdity. Do your students
believe really believe that objectivity is possible? If so, is it
desirable?
4. Have some useful fun with the extreme reactions
professional philosophers exhibit toward both Wittgenstein
5. Refer to the Philosophical Query on page 481 to elaborate
on the analytic distinction between saying and uttering. Have
6. Use the Philosophical Query on page 483 to initiate a
discussion of what it might mean to say that there are some
things of which we cannot speak. If thinking involves
language, how can we think of things of which we cannot
speak? Or is this a matter of inference?
7. Call the class s attention to Wittgenstein s high regard for
clarity in the extract on page 484. Note his characterization of
progress as continuous construction of ever more
complicated structures. What are some trade-offs between
complexity and clarity?
8. As part of tip 7, consider adding Lao-tzu s reflections on
9. Use the issue of Heidegger s Nazism to raise and discuss
the issue of whether or not philosophers personal habits and
character are relevant to their philosophies. In the process, ask
10. In regard to tip 9, raise the question of whether the
personal qualities of the philosopher matter in areas of
11. Have the class distinguish between merely existing and
existing! in terms of getting lost in the everyday ontic world of
the ordinary. Is Heidegger onto something when he says that
we take our existence (Being) for granted, in effect forgetting
what it is to be a human being?
12. Discuss what some critics see as the odd disconnect
between Heidegger s off-putting, turgid language and his
interest in Being as in be-ing, existing!, living authentically.
Compare Heidegger s approach to Kierkegaard s and address
the problem of philosophizing about existential themes. Is
there an inherent contradiction in the very process of going on
and on about existing!?
13. Use the concept of the sociopath (see the Philosophical
Query on page 497) to elucidate the various ways in which we
can comport ourselves toward the world, toward other
entities, toward humanity. Is the sociopath the ideal
14. Use the explanation of the they on page 497 and the
Philosophical Query on page 501 as the basis for a comparison
15. Heidegger s critique of technology is timely and
accessible. Don t overlook it as a great source of discussion
16. Refer to the image on page 502 and ask students to share
their attitudes toward eating, nutrition, and dietary
restrictions and concerns. What might Socrates, Aristippus, or
Epicurus (Chapters 4 and 7) say about our apparently
alienated attitudes toward our diets and physical health? Is it
fair to characterize us as alienated? If so, what precisely are
we alienated from?
17. Assign the Philosophical Query on page 503 as a light bit
of homework and then have students discuss their
18. Ask the class to collect and discuss actual examples of idle
talk from mass media and their own lives.
19. Tie Heidegger s attention to the importance of our
knowledge of our own particular death (authenticity) and the
struggles we face as a culture in dealing with end-of-life
issues. Are our conflicts and confusions perhaps linked to the
forgetting of Being, forgetting our humanity and all that
comprises it?