Work · Analytic Philosophy
On Certainty
What does it mean to know something? Notes on Moore’s defence of common sense and his “Here is one hand”.
Introduction
Wittgenstein wrote these 676 numbered remarks in the last eighteen months of his life; the last entry dates from two days before his death in April 1951. They were prompted by discussions with his former student Norman Malcolm in the United States in 1949 about Moore’s papers. Elizabeth Anscombe and G. H. von Wright published them in 1969. Wittgenstein argues that some propositions function like the bed of a river or like hinges on which doubts turn: whoever tried to doubt everything would not get as far as doubting anything. Knowing and doubting have their place only within a practice. The notes are central to current debates on hinge epistemology and scepticism.
Connections
Responds to
- A Defence of Common Sense1925 · G. E. Moore
More works by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Appears in
- Journey ‘Doubt and the Self’ · Stop 10 of 10
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