Ludwig Wittgenstein and Hermann Broch: The Need for Fiction and Logic in Moral Philosophy

Many philosophers consider Ludwig Wittgenstein to be the most important philosopher of the twentieth century. His works have been read primarily by experts in philosophy, but one exception is the novelist and contemporary of Wittgenstein's, Hermann Broch. Broch believed that by limiting philosophy to the logical clarification of thoughts, ethical problems cannot suitably be addressed and explored. He thought that rational arguments and fiction play a complementary role in revealing to us our moral commitments and in shaping our conceptions of a good life. Broch was influenced by Wittgenstein's Tractatus and anticipates some important ideas from Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. This study looks at how Wittgensteinian themes influenced, or have parallels to, Broch's theoretical and literary writings.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Germanic Languages and Literatures

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Bailes, Christopher

Contributors dc:contributor

• Michael Lutzeler

• Germanic literature
• Philosophy
• Broch
• fiction
• logic
• moral
• Wittgenstein

Language dc:language

English (en)

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7936/K70R9MGZ

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:etd-1680