Thursday, June 19, 2008

What Russell did for Wittgenstein

You don't have to be stupid to be incapable of independent thinking — academia is awash with such people.

Those who are incapable of thinking independently are incapable of recognizing anything that is both novel and important. First they must be told, by someone whom they already deem to be of some importance, that such-and-such is important, and that they should pay attention. That is what Russell did for Wittgenstein.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

But was Russell justified in his "deeming of some importance" in regards to Wittgenstein?

Damon Woolsey said...

Yes, I think he saw something there, something that was deserving of attention.