2023/05/03 by Marc James Deegan
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Critical Theory and Philosophy #Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism #Wittgensteinian philosophy and applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/01914537231170907
openalex publication_date 2023/05/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This article offers a Marxist reading of Wittgenstein and juxtaposes his famous dictum that philosophy ‘leaves everything as it is’ with the idea of transformative action. I seek to align the later philosophy of Wittgenstein with Marx’s 11th thesis on Feuerbach. I advance an unorthodox view interpreting Wittgenstein as an advocate for social and political reform. Wittgenstein’s philosophy encourages us to imagine alternatives and contemplate concrete possibilities for changing the world. The debate operates within the philosophy of education and draws inspiration from related inquiries in political thought and, more specifically, from Marxist connections with Wittgenstein.