Alois Pichler - Böcker

Wittgenstein said, 'really one should write philosophy only as one writes a poem'. This Element provides a comprehensive explanation of what he possibly meant by the statement, and why the statement is a correct description of Wittgenstein's philosophy. It connects the statement with Wittgenstein's idea of philosophical clarification, the methods he uses in it and the masters he acknowledges as the sources for his ways of 'moving his thought'. The Element introduces distinctions that are essential for approaching the multilayered complex of Wittgenstein's oeuvre. One is the distinction between writing philosophical clarifications for himself on the one hand and forming philosophical books for his reader on the other. While poetry was central to both activities, it was mandatory for the second. Indeed, for creating the perfect philosophical book, Wittgenstein thought he lacked precisely what some of his masters possessed: poetic genius.

This volume demonstrates how Wittgenstein’s philosophy can illuminate our understanding of politics and open new ways of conceptualizing democratic theory and practice. Its focus is on language, reason and communication as central to identifying present confusions in our understanding of democracy.The book seeks to engage Wittgenstein’s philosophical insights, aiming to go beyond the dichotomous oppositions and conceptual entanglements pervading existing frameworks of social and political theories of democracy. Its key topic is the irreplaceable role of dialogue in civic democratic engagement as a condition for the understanding of self and others and, hence, for political life in which reason has a role. Indeed, it presents concrete examples of how Wittgenstein can be constructively applied to current political discourse. Part I of the volume focuses on the general idea of applying Wittgenstein’s philosophy to political and democratic theory and explains the deep and intrinsic relation between Wittgenstein’s thought and politics. Part II discusses Wittgenstein’s concrete concepts as illuminating for understanding selected aspects of democratic politics. Part III deals with a possible exchange between Wittgenstein and other political thinkers, especially Hannah Arendt.Wittgenstein and Democratic Politics will appeal to researchers and advanced students working on Wittgenstein’s philosophy, political philosophy and democratic theory.

This volume demonstrates how Wittgenstein’s philosophy can illuminate our understanding of politics and open new ways of conceptualizing democratic theory and practice. Its focus is on language, reason and communication as central to identifying present confusions in our understanding of democracy.The book seeks to engage Wittgenstein’s philosophical insights, aiming to go beyond the dichotomous oppositions and conceptual entanglements pervading existing frameworks of social and political theories of democracy. Its key topic is the irreplaceable role of dialogue in civic democratic engagement as a condition for the understanding of self and others and, hence, for political life in which reason has a role. Indeed, it presents concrete examples of how Wittgenstein can be constructively applied to current political discourse. Part I of the volume focuses on the general idea of applying Wittgenstein’s philosophy to political and democratic theory and explains the deep and intrinsic relation between Wittgenstein’s thought and politics. Part II discusses Wittgenstein’s concrete concepts as illuminating for understanding selected aspects of democratic politics. Part III deals with a possible exchange between Wittgenstein and other political thinkers, especially Hannah Arendt.Wittgenstein and Democratic Politics will appeal to researchers and advanced students working on Wittgenstein’s philosophy, political philosophy and democratic theory.

Wittgenstein said, 'really one should write philosophy only as one writes a poem'. This Element provides a comprehensive explanation of what he possibly meant by the statement, and why the statement is a correct description of Wittgenstein's philosophy. It connects the statement with Wittgenstein's idea of philosophical clarification, the methods he uses in it and the masters he acknowledges as the sources for his ways of 'moving his thought'. The Element introduces distinctions that are essential for approaching the multilayered complex of Wittgenstein's oeuvre. One is the distinction between writing philosophical clarifications for himself on the one hand and forming philosophical books for his reader on the other. While poetry was central to both activities, it was mandatory for the second. Indeed, for creating the perfect philosophical book, Wittgenstein thought he lacked precisely what some of his masters possessed: poetic genius.

This is the first of two volumes of the proceedings from the 30th International Wittgenstein Symposium in Kirchberg, August 2007. In addition to several new contributions to Wittgenstein research (by N. Garver, M. Kross, St. Majetschak, K. Neumer, V. Rodych, L. M. Valdés-Villanueva), this volume contains articles with a special focus on digital Wittgenstein research and Wittgenstein's role for the understanding of the digital turn (by L. Bazzocchi, A. Biletzki, J. de Mul, P. Keicher, D. Köhler, K. Mayr, D. G. Stern), as well as discussions - not necessarily from a Wittgensteinian perspective - about issues in the philosophy of information, including computational ontologies (by D. Apollon, G. Chaitin, F. Dretske, L. Floridi, Y. Okamoto, M. Pasin and E. Motta).

This is the second of two volumes of the proceedings from the 30th International Wittgenstein Symposium in Kirchberg, August 2007. It contains selected contributions on the Philosophy of media, Philosophy of the Internet, on Ethics and the political economy of information society. Also included are papers presented in a workshop on electronic philosophy resources and open source/open access.

This wide-ranging collection of essays contains eighteen original articles by authors representing some of the most important recent work on Wittgenstein. It deals with questions pertaining to both the interpretation and application of Wittgenstein’s thought and the editing of his works. Regarding the latter, it also addresses issues concerning scholarly electronic publishing. The collection is accompanied by a comprehensive introduction which lays out the content and arguments of each contribution. Contributors: Knut Erik Tranøy, Lars Hertzberg, Georg Henrik von Wright, Marie McGinn, Cora Diamond, James Conant, David G. Stern, Eike von Savigny, P.M.S. Hacker, Hans-Johann Glock, Allan Janik, Kristóf Nyíri, Antonia Soulez, Brian McGuinness, Anthony Kenny, Joachim Schulte, Herbert Hrachovec, Cameron McEwen.

This volume covers the origin, interpretations, and reception of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and offers a critical assessment of the related research and contemporary historiography. The authors deal with an evaluation of research on Wittgenstein’s philosophy, life, and work, as well as of the editions of his work published since his death. This includes upcoming editions with a special focus on the availability of Wittgenstein’s (digital) Nachlass. Special attention is given to the reception of and references to the Tractatus in the middle and later Wittgenstein, as well as the reception by other philosophers. Moreover, open philosophical, ethical, and (unresolved) scientific questions are addressed with a critical investigation of current research. Furthermore, the complex, diverse, and mutual relation of Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle of Moritz Schlick, Otto Neurath, Friedrich Waismann and others are addressed.

Multistage stochastic optimization problems appear in many ways in finance, insurance, energy production and trading, logistics and transportation, among other areas.

Multistage stochastic optimization problems appear in many ways in finance, insurance, energy production and trading, logistics and transportation, among other areas. They describe decision situations under uncertainty and with a longer planning horizon. This book contains a comprehensive treatment of today’s state of the art in multistage stochastic optimization.  It covers the mathematical backgrounds of approximation theory as well as numerous practical algorithms and examples for the generation and handling of scenario trees. A special emphasis is put on estimation and bounding of the modeling error using novel distance concepts, on time consistency   and the role of model ambiguity in the decision process. An extensive treatment of examples from electricity production, asset liability management and inventory control concludes the book.

This volume collects nine essays that investigate the work of Gottlob Frege. The contributors address Frege’s work in relation to literature and fiction (Dichtung), the humanities (Geisteswissenschaften), and science (Wissenschaft). Overall, the essays consider internal connections between different aspects of Frege’s work while acknowledging the importance of its philosophical context.There are also further common strands between the papers, such as the relation between Frege’s and Wittgenstein’s approaches to philosophical investigations, the relation between Frege and Kant, and the place of Frege’s work in the philosophical landscape more generally. The volume is therefore of direct relevance to several current debates in philosophy in general, in addition to Frege and Wittgenstein research in particular.Even though Frege’s great significance for contemporary philosophy is not disputed, the question of how we are to understand the character andaims of his project is debated. The debate has a starting point in Frege’s specific conception of logic. The volume elucidates this conception as well as the relation between natural language and the Begriffsschrift. It will help philosophers, researchers, and students better understand the nuances of this great thinker. By extension, it will also help readers seeking to understand Wittgenstein’s approach to philosophical difficulties and his struggle to find an apt form of presentation for his philosophical investigations.