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Written by one of the century's truly great thinkers, Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations is a remarkable--and surprisingly approachable--collection of insights, statements, and nearly displayed thinking habits of the philosopher's work on language, symbols, categories, and a host of other topics. Organized into nearly 700 short observations, this book is a treasure trove for anyone who needs to think carefully about objects, categories, and symbols, especially in relation to structured logic applications in computer programming.
The short (and sometimes aphoristic) observations in Philosophical Investigations allow the reader to ponder basic questions on what describes a category, how language works in everyday situations, and how symbols function to represent our world.
Originally a series of notes to himself as he lectured on philosophy, the book is a brilliant grab bag of thought and example. Often framed as a question ("How do I recognize that this is red?"), the philosopher provides short answers in a sentence or two, never more than a paragraph. (The second part of the book uses longer answers of several pages to develop its arguments.) An index lets the reader browse on topics of interest--such as language, concept, games, or naming.
Any artificial intelligence researcher looking to understand human language will be intrigued by Wittgenstein's ideas on how symbols and language operate. And for anyone who designs software with objects, this book's careful attention to thinking about what makes a good category demonstrates rigorous thinking about everyday objects and things. Philosophical Investigations is at times a strange and often wonderful book that reveals the thought processes of one of history's finest minds. It exposes the fundamental problems of using language as a means of teaching machines to think using words. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered: Theory of language and language games, meaning and symbols, concepts and categories, behavior, games (including chess), color, images and perception, grammar and language, sensations, theory of mind and thinking.
Customer Reviews:
Language games: controversial notion, but most thought provoking.......2007-01-02
One aspect of this book that makes it important for simply that contribution is the notion of "language games." If language produces reality, different languages produce different realities. In this book, German philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein developed the related notion of "language games," islands of language, unique each to itself, not wholly translatable one into another. Each of us inhabits a particular language game, he claims, which channels how we see things and understand the world and our places within it. Again, language shapes meaning and understanding and interpretation. The world is disclosed to us through our specific language game. If we live in different language games, we see different worlds. This concept entails, as philosopher Chantal Mouffe says, ". . . a critique of the rationalist conception of the subject [i.e., the knowing, reasoning human mind] that indicates that the latter cannot be the source of linguistic meanings since it is through participation in different language games that the world is disclosed to us."
This is a serious attack on the Modern conception of the human as a reasoning being who can affect change in desired directions through the exercise of that reason. Thus, reason does NOT allow us to see the world as it is and to change it as we wish in a manner leading to progress. The concept of language games is key for many postmodern thinkers.
If we think through language and the use of language is thought itself, what is perceived is indistinct from language use. The two cannot be separated, since language governs interpretation and perception and thought. To revisit the phrase from Wittgenstein, different people play and live in different "language games," that is, their languages lead them to see the world differently, to conceptualize things differently from those in different language games. So what for the person interested in politics?
In the final analysis, this means that whenever we try to understand the world, it is through language, through interpretation, since we cannot directly perceive reality outside of our language. This begins to suggest the likelihood that one's own culture or society or polity does not have universally "true" answers to key questions of human existence; our culture develops answers within its language game that make sense at that particular time for that culture. All is interpretation of uncertain texts within different language games.
Certainly, this is a strong argument. Many disagree that language per se shapes our views of reality. And that argument needs to be taken seriously. Nonetheless, the argument about "language games," although only a small part of this book, is a provocative concept, well worth thinking about.
Interesting short read, but not challenging.......2005-12-21
I think many readers are turned off by the broken up nature of the text. The format does not bother me. Wittgenstein freely admits in the preface that he did not have time to finsh the book or do it justice. Instead we have a series of numbered paragraphs/thoughts/ideas/questions. My favorite investigateion, if I were to pick one, was #47, that was a highpoint of the book for me. Look that one up for a taste of the book.
He is boiling down communication to its bare essentials or building blocks. He focuses on what it takes to truly convey a meaning to someone else. Most of the thoughts seem to explore language as a communication tool coupled with shared experience and intuition.
Maybe I've read other authors who explored these concepts before I've read Wittgenstein. Maybe this truly was ground breaking at the time, I'm no historian or profesional philosopher (if there is such a thing). It is certainly worth reading but it is not on my list of favorites. The book didn't change my world view. Maybe I just agree with him and look through a similar projectory as his world view. I was really optimistic going into this book, but can only give it a 3 because I will probably never read it again. 4 is for books I will probably read again, 5 are my favorites.
Not one of the great books........2005-06-12
Wittgenstein was cryptic in the extreme. This has been mistaken for wisdom. Though he was considered an oracle by the 20th century he is likely, as was Herbert Spencer, famous in his own day, to be ignored by the subsequent generation.
This is not a book to spend much time on if you have real philosophical problems to solve. If you are looking for curios in the history of philosophy, by all means spend an hour.
Learn from it but there is no need to worship it.......2005-02-25
This is a book which at one time was worshipped. It was taken to be the holy text that gave the true answers to the philosophical puzzles that graduate students in philosophy were puzzling over. Wittgenstein was the hero and his manner of ' doing philosophy' of walking and holding his forehead, and waiting in silence and thinking for long stretches of time while puzzling it out was imitated by his many followers. The 'Investigations' did not like the 'Tractatus ' before it present the system that would tell the whole truth , answer it all , as it were. It instead put the focus on philosophizing as an activity. And it is a remarkable, enigmatic, aphoristic text rich in suggestions and quandaries. It truly is a book that presents perplexing questions and makes it seem as if ' thinking' is a most serious and difficult business.
From the work come key concepts which have been added to ' vocabulary ' of philosophical. Wittgenstein 'Seek the use not the meaning' puts him of course in the company of the pragmatists. The concept of ' family resemblance' in defining a concept in which one does not see a single clear definition, but rather sees 'variations' whose ' meanings overlap' as in a Venn diagram is another powerful tool of analysis. ' Letting the fly out of the fly bottle' another metaphor for philosophizing too suggested the turn to ordinary language and everyday common experience as central for philosophizing. And this away from the formal abstract logical thinking of 'The Tractatus'.
Another point. The 'Philosophical Investigations' is a hard book to understand. And part of the mystique of Wittgenstein is the sense of his incredible ' genius mind' which most of us even those studying philosophy, cannot grasp.
My own sense is that if you ask trivial questions you get trivial answers. And that of course much of the metaphysical and religious discourse philosophical analysis, logical positivism dismissed as nonsense is precisely what is important. 'The Investigations' opens more in the direction( I believe) of allowing for these kinds of meaning. But I am not sure about this.
Another point. I do not pretend to understand not only not fully, not even ' largely' 'The Investigations'. The sense of not understanding though puzzling over it of course said something to me about my own ' lesser powers' in philosophy.
Years later I would simply recommend to readers of the work to not take it with the kind of seriousness we did then. Take it as an interesting text, even a poetic text, and parse it and find meanings in it which hopefully will enrich your life and philosophical understanding.
Do not pray to it. Wittgenstein was a great mind , but a mind to be studied and understood, a frail and fragmented mind also, and not to be worshipped.
essential philosophy for intelligent reader.......2004-08-15
A lot of philosophers today are dissatisfied with what they see as a contemptuous attitude of Wittgenstein towards the traditional method of philosophical inquiry: 1)looking at philosophical problem 2)analyzing it 3)formulating a theory capable of explaining it. They are right. Wittgenstein really had an intention to "prove philosophy to be a worthless activity". He possessed a method of his own: 1)looking at a traditional philosophical problem 2)analyzing it 3)finding inconsistencies in the logic of the problem or conceptual confusion involved in formulation of this problem. Whether or not he was right in thinking that this method is capable of solving ALL philosophical problems, there are some interesting arguments in this book.
I would like to list some of them to give an impression of what this book is like.
Famous PRIVATE LANGUAGE, for example, is directed against a version of scepticism called SOLIPSISM. (solipsism is the view that any assertion of the existence of external world and /or minds of other people is meaningless because we can perceive only contents of our own mind). Rather then trying to find an argument justifying the inference of the existence of other human minds from the observable human behavior, Wittgenstein challenges the common-sense conception we have of our consciousness (the one we share with Descartes). His perspective is interesting, especially the idea that our familiarity with our sensations is dependent upon our understanding of language.
Another argument, which I call VISUAL ROOM ARGUMENT, concerns itself with the supposedly private nature of perception (looking, imagining). Problem which Wittgenstein discusses is so subtle that readers who didnt previously "discovered" this problem independently will not understand what the hell is he talking about. Those, however, who already felt troubled by it will be puzzled by sheer power of Wittgenstein intellect, when they grasp the connection between the this problem and the cluster of other problems concerning personal identity.
Apart from "dissolving" traditional philosophical problems, Wittgenstein also provides some simple but precise observations that drive us to the boundary of the territory where reason could be applied. He discusses the process of reading by urging us to engage in series of practical experiments, such as reading the numbers on wrist watch, while observing our mind processes in a way he suggests, or reading a line of nonsense while silently "saying to ourselves" meaningful sentence and then comparing the experience to our ordinary experiences of reading. Wittgenstein never forces us to adopt any particular doctrine (apart from his philosophy of language, which became rather notorious in academic circles), but anybody who will perform these experiments honestly will certanly look on his own mind from different perspective.
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Those who dont have any philosophical education need not worry. Wittgenstein despised philosophical jargon. He didnt use word "solipsism" in the private language argument. You wount find any logical formulas in PI. (this is not Quine). There is no references to other philosophers (apart from one or two mentions of Frege and James). HOwever Wittgenstein is not easy. Logical rigor of analytical philosophy can be overwhelming to those used to reading of Nietzsche and Kirkegaard.
Book Description
Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations presents his own distillation of two decades of intense work on the philosophies of mind, language and meaning. When first published in 1953, it immediately entered the centre of philosophical debate, and achieved a classic status it has retained ever since.
This revised German–English edition is published on the fiftieth anniversary of Wittgenstein's death. It incorporates final revisions by G. E. M. Anscombe (1919–2001) to her original English translation.
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Customer Reviews:
A sea change in philosophy.......2007-07-04
Wittgenstein's importance to philosophy has, paradoxically, been overstated and understated at the same time.
It is overstated when individuals attach themselves to particular arguments and use them to justify dubious claims - and, I might add, this is what happens more often than not. Half understood, some of these arguments seem to carry a weight that they do not have, and muddy things up more than they help.
But understood in its entirety, W.'s philosophy is the most powerful and innovative (and I would say, correct) philosophy in recent times.
The key text........2007-01-19
Thisd just is the key text of 20th century philosophy. Written in aphoristic style and heavily reactive to the conversation between Frege Russell and the early Wittgenstein that gave birth to contemporary analytic philosophy it is a must read (in company with some of the texts from those three authors). Nobody should remain unchanged in their thinking by reading and striving to understand this work.
3 stars only for 50th Anniversary edition.......2006-10-11
Just a few comments on this 50th anniversary--supposedly FINAL--edition of the translation:
1) After 50 years Anscombe STILL did not fix the snafu in section 412 where she forgot to translate a parenthetical. She was informed of this in the 1950's!
2) To change the translation of "Lebensform" from "form of life" to "life-form" after all these years is unnecessary and stupid. It rings too much of biology and Star Trek.
3) To change the pagination, by which all references to Part II and inserts to Part I have been made for 50 years, is an unnecessary bother.
4) The translation has NEWLY-INTRODUCED typos in sections 38, 41, 47, and then I stopped counting. How is this an improvement?
Please bring the older editions back in print!
Nice Version of a Contemporary Classic.......2006-07-30
Originally published in 1953 the `Philosophical Investigations' was the latter of Wittgenstein's two influential philosophical texts (the Tractatus being the offer). This Fiftieth Anniversary edition provides the original German text and Anscombe's English translation on opposing pages.
The Investigations is widely considered to be one of the most influential philosophical texts of the last century. Although it touches on a range of issues including logic and philosophy of the mind it is largely focused on issues pertaining to the philosophy of language. That said, I share the view that Wittgenstein is difficult to categorize - in many ways he stands outside the mainstream of philosophy.
I have occasionally heard it said that Wittgenstein is appealing and accessible to non-philosophers. Undoubtedly this will vary from reader to reader, however, I think a good understanding of the philosophical questions of the time is essential to getting the most out of Wittgenstein - he spends little time framing the issues under discussion and without this background many of his musings may seem meaningless.
From a historic perspective this is one of the most important works in twentieth century philosophy, on a more basic level it is a choppy and poorly constructed work. I struggle with Wittgenstein, sometimes viewing him as trivial other times as profound. Clearly, many great thinkers are in the latter camp, as are ironically many neophytes who want to appear as if they understand Wittgenstein.
Overall, this is an excellent edition of a modern day classic - an essential addition to any serous student's library. I would not, however, recommend this as an entry point to the world of philosophy.
A fine book.......2006-04-10
This is one of the greatest books I have ever read--and I've read quite a few books.
Book Description
A richly complex study of the Yogacara tradition of Buddhism in India and China, divided into five parts. Part 1 is on Buddhism and phenomenology, with close attention to elements in Husserl and Merleau-Ponty that are helpful for understanding Yogacara. Part 2 details the four basic models of Indian Buddhist thought - the five skandhas, conditioned co-arising, the triple world, and the interplay of behaviour/meditation/understanding. A chapter on the attainment of cessation nirodha- sam patti illustrates some of the intricate ways in which these models were deployed. Part 3 discusses karma, meditation, and epistemology, from Pali Abhidhamma and Nagarjuna to Yogacara. Part 4 presents texts, translations, and comparative analysis of Vasubandhu's Trimsika with the Chinese versions by Paramartha and Hsuan-tsang. Part 5 deals with the Ch'eng wei-shih lun and Yogacara in China.
Book Description
Wittgenstein is the most influential twentieth-century philosopher in the English-speaking world. In
The Philosophical Investigations, his most important work, he introduces the famous "private language argument" which changed the whole philosophical view of language.
Wittgenstein and the Philosophical Investigations introduces and assesses Wittgenstein's life and its connection with his thought, the text of
The Philosophical Investigations, and the importance of Wittgenstein's work to contemporary philosophy.
Customer Reviews:
Dry and rigorous, but worth the effort.......2006-11-24
Let me say at the outset that I have not read PI, and probably never will. I have read several books about Wittgenstein (W's Vienna and W's Poker, both enjoyable), and am fairly acquainted with the earlier philosophy of the Tractatus. The latter philosophy of PI I barely understood, but wanted to. That was the motive behind my reading this work. I knew the subject would be difficult, but given the fact that the book has a small word count, I figured I could get through it easily. Fortunately, I did get through it, but it was not an easy read.
Initially, I was struck by McGinn's writing style: it seemed a little odd and peculiar. Sentences I would find myself reading over twice, three times; paragraphs initially not making sense until about the third time through. As I got further on in the book I began to realize that it is not so much a defective writing style, but rather just very difficult-to-express ideas that she is writing about. Imagine doing microsurgery on concepts; that is the image that came to my mind repeatedly as I was struggling to understand what she was writing.
I think Professor McGinn has done an admirable job of trying to explicate probably one of the most difficult works of philosophy of the last century. The discussion is rigorous but accessible; it is not at all dumbed-down. Although this book will not give you an in-depth understanding of PI, it will give you a sufficient familiarity with the main concepts and ideas, and that surely is enough for a first exposure. As such, this book is an excellent introduction to PI for undergrads and non-specialists. I suppose some might fault McGinn for being overly dry in her discourse, but the subject matter is exceedingly dry. I don't think trying to 'juice up' a discussion of PI would be apropos.
Good but not the Best.......2000-11-17
Marie McGinn does a good job at highlighting many of the themes in the Philosophical Investigations. But at the same time her analysis strays from many of the traditional interpretations. Portions of her interpretation do not stay within the context of the book which in turn, gives a misleading impression of Wittgenstein's thought. It needs to be kept in mind that although Wittgenstein's analysis of language is directed at many of the empty claims of metaphysics caused by a confusion of our grammar and at redirecting philosophy to focus on language, it does not follow that he is suggesting to do away with traditional philosophy. I felt that McGinn's book tends to give this misleading impression. I would suggest getting secondary sources done by Wittgenstein's students such as Norman Malcom. Also consider looking at P.M.L.S. Hacker who has done a two volume line by line analysis of the Investigations.
An excellent primer on Wittgenstein.......1999-11-21
Having read numerous "begginer" introductions to Wittgenstein, the Routledge guidebook has definitely been the best! Its focus on the Philosophical Investigations, and it includes (along with others) sections on rule following, Wittgenstein's style, his critique of Saint Agustine's theory of naming, and the private language argument. Strongly recommend for those attempting to get a grasp of such a difficult to understand philosopher.
Average customer rating:
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Wittgenstein at Work: Method in the Philosophical Investigations
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ASIN: 0415316057 |
Book Description
Wittgenstein at Work: Method in the Philosophical Investigations explores the least well-understood aspect of Wittgenstein's later work: his aims and methods. Specially-commissioned papers by twelve of the world's leading Wittgenstein scholars analyze the way he approached key topics such as rule-following and private language, and examine his remarks on clarification, nonsense and other central notions of his methodology. Many contributors touch on the therapeutic aspects Wittgenstein's approach, the focus of much current debate.
Wittgenstein at Work provides both students and specialist with a much-needed methodological companion to one of the greatest philosophical works of the twentieth century.
Book Description
An imaginative and exciting exposition of themes from Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, this book helps readers find their way around the "forest of remarks" that make up this classic. Chapters on language, mind, color, number, God, value, and philosophy develop a major theme: that there are various kinds of language use--a variety philosophy needs to look at but tends to overlook.
Customer Reviews:
don't bother.......2007-03-20
I was hoping to get an overview of Wittgenstein's philosophical investigations - this is not it. According to the introduction, Wittgenstein is considered very hard to understand and the author is going to prove that his writings were actually coherent. Then he takes us on a confused trip through the works. The author gives a zillion footnotes back into W's papers and quotes from them at length. I didn't feel there was a synthesis of W's work, more of a confused roadmap. If you're a Wittgenstein junkie then you might find this book useful. I felt like I was reading a grad student's research paper. If you're a student of philosophy looking to understand what Wittgenstein is all about, then this is not the book for you.
Just exactly what was the point?.......2006-05-13
WPI Review
Of all the exegesis on Wittgenstein's work, this one suffers the greatest lack of clarity. Anyone who wishes to understand Wittgenstein should steer clear of Brenner's work. Speaking from an experienced vista (a student in Brenner's class) the material covered in Brenner's WPI and his course at ODU is unnecessarily difficult to understand. The combination of irrelevant commentary from other sources and awkward language makes this book one for the recycling pile. The review on the back by Cora Diamond would lead one to believe this work offers some kind of insight that cannot be obtained elsewhere. I would advise the reader to continue looking.
As other readers who left comments suggest, this book is a lackluster example of Wittgenstein. If you are interested in learning about Wittgenstein there are other sources with a mainstream analysis availble. This book tends to be vaguely written and isn't devoid of making presumptuous claims that cannot be substanitiated. In other words, the work is largely composed of opinion that is not in correspondence with the major scholars of Wittgenstein.
not very good.......2002-06-14
I bought this book on the strength of Cora Diamond's blurb on the back cover. I was very disappointed. Especially in his discussion of rule following, Brenner does not so much explain the relevant ideas as he paraphrases them. (An example: in his discussion of sections 206-223, Brenner imagines someone asking "suppose different people respond in diffferent ways to the same order. Who is right?" He answers, "if there is an established practice among these people then the right way will mean the customary way." The answer is a direct paraphrase of the text around section 201. But simply paraphrasing or extracting from the text gets us nowhere. If you already understand Wittgenstein, you will understand this remark. If not you won't. Either way, it won't much help.) Brenner's discussion of the private language argument is better. But there's still _much_ better expository material available.
Is the Basic Premise really his own?.......2001-03-12
A question to you all.
Isn't Wit's basic premise about language and truth just a slant on Sausseurian linguistics with lots of blather and a critique of his (Wit's) prior incarnation in the Tractatus? (the tractatus being the single most pseudo and naive work in the history of phi in my opinion and Wit's first book.)
A Voice Crying in the Wilderness.......2001-02-19
You have heard it said that all philosophical arguments are nothing more than arguments about words. This was Wittgenstein's premise. He believed that the perfect definition was nothing more than a philosophical mirage. More importantly there is the hint of an ethical premise in The Investigations. The hint lies in the most misunderstood of all philosophical remarks: the "forms of life." Interpreted in more ways than you can fill out a lottery card, Wittgenstein insinuated that how you live your life is the most important of all philosophical statements you will ever make. He also insinuated that not all meaning was tied up in language, texts and signs. Both insinuations are as heretical now as they were then. Still today we find ourselves slidding on the "icey logic of language."
Book Description
David Stern examines Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations in this new introduction to a classic philosophical text, paying particular attention to the arguments of the Investigations as well as the way in which the work is written, especially the role of dialogue. While he concentrates on helping readers interpret the primary text, he also provides guidance to the unusually wide range of existing interpretations, and why they have inspired such a diversity of readings.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent but demanding introduction.......2006-01-26
There are plenty of books about Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations currently on the market, but this is among the best. David Stern has achieved a remarkable feat of combining a clear and cogent explanation of Wittgenstein's ideas with a discussion of a large part of the leading secondary literature, and all within the space of 200 pages.
Central to Stern's approach to Wittgenstein's text is the contrast between what he calls a "Pyrrhonian" and "non-Pyrrhonian" interpretation (a distinction he takes from Robert Fogelin's Pyrrhonian reflections on knowledge and justification (Oxford University Press, 1994)). The Pyrrhonian interpretation is sceptical about all philosophical claims; it aims to prevent philosophy from getting started in the first place by dissolving the questions that lead to philosophical speculation. By contrast, a non-Pyrrhonian interpretation of Wittgenstein attributes to him specific philosophical theses: his aim, on this account, is not to put an end to philosophy, but to do philosophy better. Most of the standard introductions and commentaries (including Baker and Hacker's multi-volume Analytic Commentary) adopt a non-Pyrrhonian interpretation, but this is hard to reconcile with Wittgenstein's own professed statements about putting an end to philosophy. Stern reads the Philosophical Investigations as a dialogue between several different voices in the course of which Wittgenstein exposes the temptations that lead to philosophical theorising. In so doing he makes a compelling case for the Pyrrhonian reading.
One word of warning for potential readers. Although described as an "Introduction", and intended for the undergraduate market, the book is philosophically quite advanced and requires some familiarity with both Wittgenstein's text and the relevant secondary literature to be fully appreciated. That said, Stern's book can be highly recommended as a guide to Wittgenstein's later philosophy.
Book Description
In contemporary philosophy, substantive moral theories are typically classified as either consequentialist or deontological. Standard consequentialist theories insist, roughly, that agents must always act so as to produce the best available outcomes overall. Standard deontological theories, by contrast, maintain that there are some circumstances where one is permitted but not required to produce the best overall results, and still other circumstances in which one is positively forbidden to do so. Classical utilitarianism is the most familiar consequentialist view, but it is widely regarded as an inadequate account of morality. Although Professor Scheffler agrees with this assessment, he also believes that consequentialism seems initially plausible, and that there is a persistent air of paradox surrounding typical deontological views. In this book, therefore, he undertakes to reconsider the rejection of consequentialism. He argues that it is possible to provide a rationale for the view that agents need not always produce the best possible overall outcomes, and this motivates one departure from consequentialism; but he shows that it is surprisingly difficult to provide a satisfactory rationale for the view that there are times when agents must not produce the best possible overall outcomes. He goes on to argue for a hitherto neglected type of moral conception, according to which agents are always permitted, but not always required, to produce the best outcomes.
Customer Reviews:
making a moral sexual primer.......2007-05-13
sexual desire is that force which attracts one person to another person, the two marry in a legal ceremony performed within a church. sexual desire resides within the marriage. the couple have children and educate them in, among other lessons, the social construct of sexual desire.
for adults, that sexual education continues as a philosophical investigation by roger scruton. a highly entertaining, and provocative, read for students of philosophy, taking in philosophical ideas from platonic love to wittgensteinian forms of life.
scruton writes that the general reader can follow his argument, except for the difficult passages found in the two appendix and chapter three. for philosophy students, those interested in g.e.m. anscombe, you don't want to skip chapter three.
here's what scruton says about his investigation in chapter one, the problem: it needs little observation to recognize that our civilization has suffered a profound crisis in sexual behaviour and in sexual morality. ... it seems to me inevitable that sexual conduct should be encumbered with moral scruples. i also believe that many of these scruples are justifiable, and that the failure to see this stems from a mistaken conception of the nature of desire. hence my first task will be one of description: what is sexual desire as a phenomenon of human experience? i shall then try to sketch a sexual morality, whose basis will be located, not in religious belief, but in human nature, and i shall rely upon the general strategy explored by aristotle in the nicomachaen ethics, in order to pass from the facts of human nature to the morality which they imply. ... the problem of sexual desire becomes, in the end, a political problem, and the somewhat conservative moral conclusions that i shall defend must be seen as part of the larger political conservativism which they already imply, and for which they provide, indeed, one of the deepest justifications-a justification that stems from the inner quality of the most private human experience.'
after reading chapter one, i seriously wondered if sexual activities would be perceived still as fun or as a moral duty of which nietzsche said: happiness is not important, what's important is getting the work done.
personally, i could have done without the political premise and conclusion. using philosophy to push an agenda, usually makes for bad philosophy, and there's plenty of good philosophy in scruton's book.
but maybe scruton is right, we've brought it upon ourselves, sexually we've gotten out of hand and as a consequence of our bad behaviour our sexual desire must be grounded. then sent to bed.
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