Description
Book SynopsisIn this forcefully argued collection of essays, Frank Cioffi examines Wittgenstein's reflections on the comparative claims of clarification and empirical enquiry, with reference to his treatment of Frazer's accounts of human sacrifice and of Freud's dealings with dreams, jokes and mental life in general.
Trade Review' … the essays are excellent, both as interpretation and as criticism.' The Times Literary Supplement
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Information, contemplation and social life; 2. Aesthetic explanation and aesthetic perplexity; 3. Wittgenstein and the fire festivals; 4. When do empirical methods by-pass the problems which trouble us?; 5. Explanation, self-clarification and solace; 6. Wittgenstein on making homeopathic magic clear; 7. Wittgenstein and obscurantism; 8. Wittgenstein on Freud's 'abominable mess'; 9. Congenital transcendentalism and 'the loneliness which is the truth about things'; Afterword; 10. Explanation and self-clarification in Frazer; 11. Explanation and self-clarification in Freud; 12. Conclusion: two cheers for the coroner's report.
