Anja Weiberg: Wittgenstein’s critique of the ideal of ‘sublimation’

Invitation pdf

Abstract
The late Wittgenstein uses the word ‘sublimation’ - usually with a positive connotation - in a rather critical way: For him, the ideal of sublimation is the source of many philosophical confusions, in that it reinforces or produces in the first place the philosophical problems that are supposed to be solved.

In this lecture, I will first analyse what this ideal of sublimation consists of for Wittgenstein, second, I will further explore, with the help of some examples, why he considers this way of philosophising to be unproductive or even misleading.