Ethics as Grammar: Changing the Postmodern Subject - Hardcover

Kallenberg, Brad J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0268027609 ISBN 13: 9780268027605

Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001

Synopsis

Wittgenstein, one of the most influential, and yet widely misunderstood, philosophers of our age, confronted his readers with aporias―linguistic puzzles―as a means of countering modern philosophical confusions over the nature of language without replicating the same confusions in his own writings. In Ethics as Grammar, Brad Kallenberg uses the writings of theological ethicist Stanley Hauerwas as a foil for demonstrating how Wittgenstein’s method can become concrete within the Christian tradition. Kallenberg shows that the aesthetic, political, and grammatical strands epitomizing Hauerwas’s thought are the result of his learning to do Christian ethics by thinking through Wittgenstein.

Kallenberg argues that Wittgenstein’s pedagogical strategy cultivates certain skills of judgment in his readers by making them struggle to move past the aporias and acquire the fluency of language’s deeper grammar. Theologians, says Kallenberg, are well suited to this task of "going on" because the gift of Christianity supplies them with the requisite resources for reading Wittgenstein. Kallenberg uses Hauerwas to make this case―showing that Wittgenstein’s aporetic philosophy has engaged Hauerwas in a lifelong conversation that has cured him of many philosophical confusions. Yet, because Hauerwas comes to the conversation as a Christian believer, he is able to surmount Wittgenstein’s aporias with the assistance of theological convictions that he possesses through grace.

Ethics as Grammar reveals that Wittgenstein’s intention to cultivate concrete skill in real people was akin to Aristotle’s emphasis on the close relationship of practical reason and ethics. In this thought-provoking book, Kallenberg demonstrates that Wittgenstein does more than simply offer a vantage point for reassessing Aristotle, he paves the way for ethics to become a distinctively Christian discipline, as exemplified by Stanley Hauerwas.

About this title

About the Author

Brad J. Kallenberg is professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton, Ohio.

From the Back Cover

"Kallenberg's book is well-researched, energetically written, and stocked with engaging illustrations. By tracing the evolution of concepts such as form and self/subject through Wittgenstein's early, middle, and late writings, it has given me a better understanding than ever before of the sweep of Wittgenstein's thought--it even makes me want to re-read the Tractatus! Kallenberg's elucidation of the Wittgensteinan presuppositions of Hauerwas's ethics shows the importance of appreciating Hauerwas as a philosopher as well as premier Christian ethicist of our day. I recommend Ethics As Grammar with great enthusiasm." --Nancey Murphy, Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary.

"For some years now Stanley Hauerwas has been engaged in the task of rethinking Christian ethics, imaginatively and controversially; Brad Kallenberg brings to bear his deep knowledge and understanding of the later philosophy of Wittgenstein to illuminate Hauerwas's project and Wittgenstein's, in ways that do justice to both--a remarkable achievement!" --Fergus Kerr, Regent, Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford and Honorary Senior Lecturer, Divinity Faculty, University of Edinburgh

"Ethics as Grammar represents a quite flawless account of Ludwig Wittgenstein's 'project' as well as a comprehensive overview of Stanley Hauerwas's work, calling attention to the way in which Wittgenstein's strategies inform Hauerwas's." --David B. Burrell, C.S.C., Theodore Hesburgh Professor in Philosophy and Theology, University of Notre Dame

"In this extraordinary book, Kallenberg, by drawing on Wittgenstein, wonderfully exposes the high wire act that constitutes 'my work'. This is an absolutely wonderful book. I learned again what I had forgotten." --Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Howe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke University

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0268027609
• ISBN 13: 9780268027605
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 346