"Facts, Facts, and Facts but No Ethics": a Philosophical Remark on Dethroning

Abstract

In this paper I argue that Wittgenstein's writings from the late 20s and the
beginning of the 30s reveal some discrepancy between the later Wittgenstein's
approach to language and world and his less-revolutionized approach to ethics.
Wittgenstein indeed acknowledged the fact that his new views about language and
world must have resulted in abandoning his pure and ascetic conception of
ethics; yet he did not realize that the linkage forged between meaning and
action must yield a blatantly political attitude to matters ethical. This
discrepancy sheds light on the fact that Wittgenstein's notion of philosophy
remained faithful to some traditional dogma which prohibited him from deducing
the most radical consequences from his own revolutionary vision.