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‘Ethics is transcendental’ (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 6.421)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2021

JORDI FAIRHURST Open the ORCID record for JORDI FAIRHURST [Opens in a new window]
JORDI FAIRHURST*
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UNIVERSITAT DE LES ILLES BALEARSjordi.fairhurst@uib.es
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Abstract

In this paper I offer a novel interpretation of Wittgenstein's claim that ‘ethics is transcendental’ (TLP 6.421). Initially, I set out to offer said interpretation by resorting to both Wittgenstein's understanding of ethics and his understanding of the transcendentality of logic—which entails taking Wittgenstein as endorsing a Kantian understanding of the notion ‘transcendental’. This leads to the claim that ethics is transcendental insofar as it is the condition of a certain ethical experience. Nevertheless, this interpretation involves some inadequacies due to certain incompatibilities between the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the aforementioned Kantian understanding of the notion ‘transcendental’. I identify the peculiarities of Wittgenstein's understanding of the notion ‘transcendental’, and on this basis, I set forth a novel interpretation of 6.421. Specifically, I argue that ethics is transcendental insofar as it is internal to or constitutive of a certain mystical view: viewing the world sub specie aeterni as something valuable.

Keywords

WittgensteinTractatus Logico-Philosophicusethicslogictranscendental
Type
Article
Information
Journal of the American Philosophical Association , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , Fall 2021 , pp. 348 - 367
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Copyright
Copyright © American Philosophical Association 2021

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Footnotes

This work was supported by the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte del Gobierno de España (MECD) under Grant FPU16/05569. For helpful comments and discussion, many thanks to Janet Anne Chilton, the participants of the 41st International Ludwig Wittgenstein Symposium, the editor, and two anonymous reviewers.

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