Benjamin e Wittgenstein sul concetto di affinità

  • Stefano Oliva

Abstract

The paper’s main topic is the comparison between Benjamin and Wittgenstein on the concept of affinity. After a short reconstruction of the fregean influence on both philosophers, engaged in an attempt to solve the well-known Russell’s paradox, the attention is focused on the concept of Verwandschaft. Benjamin examines it in several essays and fragments, as Analogy and relationship (1919), Goethe’s elective affinities (1922), On Mimetic Capacity and Doctrine of Similitude (1933). The idea of an affinity not based on a previous similarity distinguishes the Verwandschaft from the analogy and finds a relevant application in the comprehension of musical expressivity, based not on the interpretation of contents but on the production of comparisons. In a similar way, Wittgenstein finds in the concept of family resemblances the antidote against a quest of essences: in his Philosophical Investigations (1951) the Austrian philosopher tries to discourage the human tendency to look for a unifying quality that may compose differences in a strict definitional logic. Wittgenstein, too, finds in music a specific domain of application of Verwandschaft, seen as a similarity that emerges just because of our practical capacity of producing comparisons.

References

ARBO, Alessandro (2013), Entendre comme: Wittgenstein et l'esthétique musicale, Hermann, Paris.

BADIOU, Alain (2009), L’antiphilosophie de Wittgenstein, Nous, Besançon.

BENJAMIN, Walter (1955), Schriften, SuhrkampVerlag, Berlin (trad. it. Angelus Novus, Einaudi, Torino 1995).

ID. (1977) Lehrevom Ähnlichen, in Gesammelte Schriften, vol. II, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a.M. (trad. it. Dottrina della similitudine in Aura e choc, Einaudi, Torino 2012).

ID. (1985), Fragmentevermischten Inhalts, ZurSprachphilosophie und Erkenntniskritik, Zur Moral und Anthropologie, in Gesammelte Schriften, vol. VI, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a.M. (trad. it. Conoscenza e linguaggio. Frammenti II, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2013).

CACCIARI, Massimo (1974), Krisis.Saggio sulla crisi del pensiero negativo da Nietzsche a Wittgenstein, Feltrinelli, Milano.

CHITUSSI, Barbara (2013), “Denotazione” e “significato”. Walter Benjamin e il paradosso di Russell, in Walter Benjamin. Testi e commenti, «L’ospiteingrato», n. 3, pp.143-154.

CONANT, James (2006), Wittgenstein’s Later Criticism of the Tractatus, in A. Pichelr, S. Säätelä (a cura di), Wittgenstein: The Philosopher and His Works, Ontos, Wien, pp. 172-204 (trad. it. Le critiche del secondo Wittgenstein al Tractatus, in J. Conant, C. Diamond, Rileggere Wittgenstein, Carocci, Roma 2010).

DESIDERI, Fabrizio (1980), Walter Benjamin. Il tempo e le forme, Editori Riuniti, Roma.

FENVES, Peter (2010), The Messianic Reduction, Standford University Press, Standford 2010.

ID. (2012), Diverging Correspondences Concerning the Problem of Identity: RusselWittgenstein and Benjamin-Scholem, in J. Ng e R. Tobias (a cura di), Walter Benjamin, Gershom Scholem and the Marburg School, in «Modern Language Notes», 127/ 2012, n. 3, pp. 242-261.

GABRIELLI, Paolo (2004), Sinn und Bildbei Wittgenstein und Benjamin, Peter Lang, Bern.

GARGANI, Aldo Giorgio (2003), Wittgenstein. Dalla verità al senso della verità, Edizioni Plus, Pisa.

HINTIKKA, Merrill B. e HINTIKKA, Jaakko (1986), Investigating Wittgenstein, Blackwell, Oxford-New York (trad. it. Indagine su Wittgenstein, Il Mulino, Bologna, 1990).

KOSHAL, Anu (2010), Wittgenstein and Nietzsche: Two Critics of Philosophy, Duke University Libraries, Durham.

LAUGIER, Sandra (2009), Wittgenstein. Les Sens de l’Usage, Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris.

MATASSI, Elio (2004), Musica, Guida, Napoli.

PERISSINOTTO, Luigi (2008), Wittgenstein. Una guida, Feltrinelli, Milano.

PETERS, Michael, MARSHALL, James (1999) Wittgenstein: Philosophy, Postmodernism, Pedagogy, Bergin & Garvey, Santa Barbara.

RODGERS, Michael Charles (2012) Wittgenstein and Nietzsche on the Role of Philosophy: Description, Creativity, Naturalism, and Possibility, CGU Theses & Dissertations, Paper 62.

RUSSELL, Bertrand (1903), Principles of Mathematics, Routledge, London and New York 2010 (trad. it. I principi della matematica, Newton Compton, Roma, 1971).

RUSSELL, Bertrand (1922), Introduction in WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig (1922), Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Kegan, Trench, Trubner, London (trad. it. Tractatus LogicoPhilosophicus, Einaudi, Torino 1995, pp. 49-66).

SCHOLEM, Gershom (1970), Der Name Gottes und die Srachtheorie der Kabbala, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt a. M (trad. it. Il Nome di Dio e la teoria cabbalistica del linguaggio, Adelphi, Milano, 1998).

ID. (1990), Walter Benjamin – die Geschichte einerFreundschaft, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a.M., 1990 (trad. it. Walter Benjamin. Storia di un’amicizia, Adelphi, Milano, 1992).

SOULEZ, Antonia (2012), Au fil du motif. Autour de Wittgenstein et la musique, Delatour France, Paris.

TAGLIACOZZO, Tamara (2013a), Walter Benjamin e la musica, Il glifo ebooks.

ID. (2013b), Introduzione. Filosofia del linguaggio e critica della conoscenza nei frammenti giovanili di Walter Benjamin, in W. Benjamin, Conoscenza e linguaggio. Frammenti II, Mimesis, Milano-Udine, 2013, pp. 17-103.

WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig (1922), Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Kegan, Trench, Trubner, London (trad. it. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Einaudi, Torino 1995).

ID. (1953) Philosophische Untersuchungen, Blackwell, Oxford (trad. it. Ricerche filosofiche, Einaudi, Torino, 1967).

ID. (1958) The Blue and Brown Books, Basil Blackwell, Oxford (trad. it. Libro blu e Libro marrone, Einaudi, Torino, 1983).

VIRNO, Paolo (2001), Grammatica della moltitudine, Rubbettino, Catanzaro.

How to Cite
Oliva, S. (1) “Benjamin e Wittgenstein sul concetto di affinità”, Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio, 8(2). Available at: http://www.rifl.unical.it/index.php/rifl/article/view/231 (Accessed: 28March2024).