TY - JOUR
T1 - On Wittgenstein’s Notion of a Surveyable Representation
T2 - Rituals, Aesthetics, and Aspect-Perception
AU - Ben-Moshe, Nir
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Australasian Journal of Philosophy.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - I demonstrate that analogies, both explicit and implicit, between Wittgenstein’s discussions of rituals, aesthetics, and aspect-perception have important payoffs in terms of understanding his notion of a ‘surveyable representation’ (übersichtliche Darstellung) as it applies to phenomena that are not exclusively grammatical in nature. In particular, I argue that a surveyable representation of various anthropological and aesthetic facts allows us to see, qua form of aspect-perception, internal relations and formal connections, so that the inner nature of a ritual or the solution of an aesthetic puzzle is exhibited. This particular form of seeing both explains why Wittgenstein thought that hypothetical explanations about the origins of a ritual are irrelevant to appreciating its meaning and elucidates his understanding of rituals, which involves seeing ‘internal relations’ and ‘formal connections’. The upshots of the account for work in anthropology are discussed.
AB - I demonstrate that analogies, both explicit and implicit, between Wittgenstein’s discussions of rituals, aesthetics, and aspect-perception have important payoffs in terms of understanding his notion of a ‘surveyable representation’ (übersichtliche Darstellung) as it applies to phenomena that are not exclusively grammatical in nature. In particular, I argue that a surveyable representation of various anthropological and aesthetic facts allows us to see, qua form of aspect-perception, internal relations and formal connections, so that the inner nature of a ritual or the solution of an aesthetic puzzle is exhibited. This particular form of seeing both explains why Wittgenstein thought that hypothetical explanations about the origins of a ritual are irrelevant to appreciating its meaning and elucidates his understanding of rituals, which involves seeing ‘internal relations’ and ‘formal connections’. The upshots of the account for work in anthropology are discussed.
KW - aesthetics
KW - anthropology
KW - aspect-perception
KW - perspicuous representation
KW - surveyable representation
KW - Wittgenstein
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U2 - 10.1080/00048402.2021.1952458
DO - 10.1080/00048402.2021.1952458
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85114648148
SN - 0004-8402
VL - 100
SP - 825
EP - 838
JO - Australasian Journal of Philosophy
JF - Australasian Journal of Philosophy
IS - 4
ER -