on certainty 405

405. But of course there is still a mistake even here.

if think your propositions are certain –

there can be no mistake –

for if there was you couldn’t claim to be certain

and what is the status of your mistake?

if it’s certain –

you have a conflict with the original certainty

and if that’s the case –

there is no certainty in either case

if you were to take the mistake seriously –

the question you have to ask is –

is my mistake – certain?

couldn’t it too – be a mistake?

mistake after mistake –

certainty – after certainty –

and each certainty contradicting each certainty –

so what becomes of certainty?

I mean – you just wouldn’t bother with this rubbish –

would you now?

really if you were fair dinkum about certainty –

you wouldn’t have a bar of the mistake

on  the other hand –

if you recognize that your propositions are uncertain –

this pretend notion of the mistake –

just doesn’t get a look in

so why does Wittgenstein keep running with the mistake?

I think he’s uncertain about certainty –

and I mean that seriously

he feels the need for certainty –

he thinks the world – or at least his world –

would fall apart without it –                                                     

but he knows that it’s dodgy –

however for ‘pragmatic philosophical reasons’ he’s going to push it –

the mistake here functions as a kind of valve –

a valve you can turn on if the ‘logical pressure’ against certainty –

just gets a bit too much for you

you can wipe your brow and say –

‘well yes there is certainty – but thank God for the mistake’

so the mistake functions as an excuse for a flawed concept –

the flawed concept of certainty

it looks as if Wittgenstein is happy with this set up

at no point does he give an analysis of mistake

I think he believes that if like him –

you are going to soldier on with certainty –

you’ll just see the mistake as a relief –

it’s a relief concept –

well not even a concept –

it’s just a turn a of phrase –

Wittgenstein thinks –will do the job –

if you don’t give it any thought

really from Wittgenstein what we have in On Certainty –

is nothing more than philosophical propaganda –

the reality here is –

Wittgenstein has put a great deal of effort into –

a philosophical snow job

his work here is not without value –

it’s just a shame he didn’t bite the bullet –

and go hard for the truth –

instead of taking the dive –

and settling for what is –

or what he thought should be –

the status-quo

© greg t. charlton. 2010.