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"The Fitting Word"

Authors

  • Ondřej Beran Centre for Ethics, University of Pardubice

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15845/nwr.v12.3616

Keywords:

language, fitting word, Wittgenstein

Abstract

In his post-war writings, Wittgenstein makes several comments on particularly “fitting” (treffende) words. However, the nature of this quality remains unclear and elusive. In this paper, I present some suggestions about what one might learn from Wittgenstein’s comments, though my purpose is not primarily exegetical, but rather simply to reflect upon what makes a word “fitting”. I discuss several options; first that it is the context what makes the word fitting, then that it is an “imponderable” quality it has. Eventually, I opt for the explanation that the fittingness has (at least often) to do with the enthusiastic feeling the word can give rise to. The feeling should not be construed as a mental event of a private kind, though; rather, we can describe in these terms the dynamics of conversational situations that feature “fitting” words.

Author Biography

Ondřej Beran, Centre for Ethics, University of Pardubice

Ondřej Beran is based at the Centre for Ethics as Study in Human Value (Dept. of Philosophy and Religious Studies), University of Pardubice. He writes about various topics. His recent publications include Examples and Their Role in Our Thinking (Routledge 2021) and Ethical Inquiries after Wittgenstein (co-edited with Salla Aldrin Salskov and Nora Hämäläinen; Springer 2022).

References

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LWPP: Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology. Oxford: Blackwell, 1982.

OC: On Certainty. Oxford: Blackwell, 1969.

PI: Philosophical Investigations. Revised 4th edition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.

RPP I: Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology I. Oxford: Blackwell, 1980.

RPP II: Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology II. Oxford: Blackwell, 1980.

TBT: The Big Typescript. TS 213. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005.

Other:

Beran, O. 2021. Examples and Their Role in Our Thinking. New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003138778

Gadamer, H.-G. 1993. “Grenzen der Sprache”. In: H.-G. Gadamer, Kunst als Aussage. Tübingen: Mohr, 350–361.

Gaita, R. 1990. “Language and Conversation: Wittgenstein’s Builders”. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements 28, 101–115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1358246100005269

Gaita, R. 2000. A Common Humanity. London: Routledge.

Knott, H. 2017. “On Reinstating ‘Part I’ and ‘Part II’ to Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations”. Philosophical Investigations 40, 329-349. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/phin.12166

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Rhees, R. 2006. Wittgenstein and the Possibility of Discourse. Oxford: Blackwell.

Schulte, J. 1993. Experience and Expression. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Somavilla, I. 2019. “Wittgensteins Tagebuchschreiben als Weg der Vervollkommnung und Suche nach Klarheit”. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 67, 265–279. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/dzph-2019-0021

Winch, P. 1972. “Moral Integrity”. In: P. Winch, Ethics and Action. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 171–192. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003051138-9

Winch, P. 1996. “Doing Justice or Giving the Devil His Due”. In: D. Z. Phillips, ed., Can Religion Be Explained Away? Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 161–174. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24858-2_8

Winch, P. 1997. “Can We Understand Ourselves?” Philosophical Investigations 20, 193–204. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9205.00038

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Published

2023-04-27

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Issue

Volume 12 (2023), S. Säätelä, G. Bengtsson, O. Kuusela, C. Wittusen (eds.); A. Pichler (from the archives); J. Trächtler (book reviews)

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Articles

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Copyright (c) 2023 Ondřej Beran

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Vol. 1-3 used CC-BY-NC-SA. The collected works copyright ownership for Vol. 1-2 were shared by Nordic Wittgenstein Society and ontos Verlag/De Gruyter.