Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [anscombe]

G. E. M. Anscombe (1919—2001) or Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Ancombe was an Irish-British philosopher. She was associated with both Oxford and Cambridge and became a Chair of Philosophy at Cambridge in 1970. She met Wittgenstein at Cambridge. Wittgenstein selected her as one of the three literary executors of his estate. She translated his *Philosophical Investigations*. She is noted in ethics for her paper “Modern Moral Philosophy.”

For an overview of her life and work see the following:

Noted works:

21 questions
5
votes
2 answers

Where did Carnap express his disagreement with Wittgenstein's Tractatus?

I read the following in G. E. M. Anscombe's description of the consequences of Wittgenstein's picture theory of language: (page 82) Carnap strongly objected to Wittgenstein's doctrine with its corollary of the 'unsayables' that are 'shewn', which…
Frank Hubeny
  • 19,136
  • 7
  • 28
  • 89
5
votes
2 answers

What is the difference between a prediction and an expression of intention according to Anscombe?

I have been reading G.E.M Anscombe's book Intention and one of the key concepts is the difference between predictions and expressions of intention but I feel as though I am failing to grasp it correctly. My understanding was that the difference lies…
tom
  • 51
  • 2
4
votes
1 answer

Where to access the archives of philosophical journal "The human world"

In the 70-s there must have been a journal called "The human world", for I have seen it in citations. However, it's a tricky word to google and I have found zero information about this journal online. I am specially interested in Issue 9, November…
user3704545
  • 43
  • 3
4
votes
1 answer

Where does Bertrand Russell discuss mysticism?

G. E. M. Anscombe writes in An Introduction to Wittgenstein's Tractatus (1971, St Augustine's Press) the following about Wittgenstein's use of the concept of mysticism: (page 170) But Wittgenstein took the term over from Russell, who used it in a…
Frank Hubeny
  • 19,136
  • 7
  • 28
  • 89
4
votes
0 answers

How do Anscombe and Wittgenstein view psychology?

G. E. M. Anscombe wrote this at the beginning of Modern Moral Philosophy where she claimed that one should not do moral philosophy today: ...that should be laid aside at any rate until we have an adequate philosophy of psychology. In her…
Frank Hubeny
  • 19,136
  • 7
  • 28
  • 89
4
votes
2 answers

Thick Concepts versus Normative Concepts

In G. E. Anscombe's article "Modern Moral Philosophy", she thinks that it is meaningless to make moral judgements such as something is right, wrong, permissible and impermissible. Secondly, she thinks that her thick concept / Aristotelian virtue…
Sanna Lannovna
  • 107
  • 1
  • 6
3
votes
3 answers

Did early Wittgenstein view mathematics as "sense-less" or "non-sensical"?

G. E. M Anscombe makes the following distinction between Wittgenstein's use of sense-less (sinnlos) and nonsense (unsinnig): (page 163) We must distinguish in the theory of the Tractatus between logical truths and the things that are 'shewn';…
Frank Hubeny
  • 19,136
  • 7
  • 28
  • 89
3
votes
0 answers

Was Hume a sophist?

rs.29 wrote in an answer to a question about the is-ought problem the following: ...we could hold the is–ought problem only as a obsolete sophism, and not as a real problem. This reminded me of something G. E. M. Anscombe wrote about Hume in…
Frank Hubeny
  • 19,136
  • 7
  • 28
  • 89
3
votes
1 answer

What is the difficulty with the concept of pleasure that Anscombe claims Ryle addressed?

In Modern Moral Philosophy G. E. M. Anscombe writes (page 2) Bentham and Mill do not notice the difficulty of the concept of "pleasure". She claimed the ancients found the concept of pleasure "baffling", but noted that Generations of modern…
Frank Hubeny
  • 19,136
  • 7
  • 28
  • 89
2
votes
1 answer

Is Anscombe saying that we seem unable to move from 'unreasonable' to 'wrong' because we lack a contemporary understanding of 'virtue'

She refers to "psychology", and not being able to do "philosophy", of contemporary "systems" which, she complains, allows people to commit "injustice". https://sites.pitt.edu/~mthompso/readings/mmp.pdf Something would or would not be unjust is…
user57755
2
votes
1 answer

Is unhappiness a principle of utility for any moral philosopher?

G. E. M. Anscombe criticizes the following happiness principle of utility in Modern Moral Philosophy as an adequate judgement for moral behavior (midway, page 7 of the link): "The greatest happiness principle ought to be employed in all…
Frank Hubeny
  • 19,136
  • 7
  • 28
  • 89
2
votes
1 answer

What were the main sophistical methods according to Plato?

In her paper Modern Moral Philosophy, G. E. M. Anscombe used the phrase "sophistical methods" and "his procedures are certainly sophistical" (page 3 of the linked file). I assume this meant something specific to her listeners in the 1950's. I assume…
Frank Hubeny
  • 19,136
  • 7
  • 28
  • 89
2
votes
2 answers

Why do some philosophers write in numbered paragraphs?

Hegel, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and Anscombe all write mostly in numbered paragraphs. (Of course Hegel and Nietzsche have chapters. And many of Hegel's lectures aren't written in this way, but both Logics, PR and PS are.) To some extent this makes…
Canyon
  • 1,956
  • 12
  • 35
1
vote
0 answers

What did Anscombe dislike about "The Concept of Mind"?

In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy it says Anecdotal evidence (thanks to David Pears) is that Elizabeth Anscombe was scathing about The Concept of Mind when it was published. I find this somewhat surprising, I would have guessed Anscombe…
UtilityMaximiser
  • 159
  • 3
1
vote
1 answer

How did Wittgenstein "cure" Anscombe of phenomenalism?

In "Collected Philosophical Papers Volume 2: Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Mind", Elizabeth Anscombe wrote the following: I always hated phenomenalism and felt trapped by it. I couldn’t see my way out of it but I didn’t believe it. It was no…
UtilityMaximiser
  • 159
  • 3
1
2