About the Book
This radical new reading suggests that Wittgenstein is best understood as a covert Jewish thinker in times of lethal anti-Semitism. The argument first establishes that there was one Wittgenstein, not an early and a later. By looking afresh at the role of the Bible, God, Augustine, Otto Weininger, and science, among other things, in Wittgenstein's thought, Ranjit Chatterjee shows how well Wittgenstein matches with Jewish tradition because he had internalized talmudic and rabbinic modes of thought. An abundance of evidence is brought forward of Wittgenstein's Jewish self-identification from his writings and from remarks noted in conversations by his closest friends. Written in an engaging style, this powerful and unexpected understanding of Wittgenstein includes a chapter on his relation to postmodernism (Levinas and Derrida), a personal epilogue, an appendix on his descent, and a full bibliography.
About the Author :
The Author: Ranjit Chatterjee received his Ph.D. in Slavic languages and literatures from The University of Chicago and teaches at Lado International College in Maryland. The author of Aspect and Meaning in Slavic and Indic and co-editor of Tropic Crucible: Self and Theory in Language and Literature, Dr. Chatterjee has published several essays on Wittgenstein, language, and linguistics.
Review :
Ranjit Chatterjee's book on Wittgenstein is ingenious, learned, and important. (Arnold Jacob Wolf, Rabbi Emeritus, K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Congregation, Chicago, Illinois) With considerable erudition, penetrating original research, and convincing rhetoric, Ranjit Chatterjee demonstrates that Wittgenstein's Jewish origins were a major factor in shaping both his life and his thought. Like Harry Wolfson's now classic study of Spinoza, Chatterjee has shown the influence of being Jewish and of Judaism on the work of a major and influential philosopher. For this startling contribution to the history of philosophy, Chatterjee should evoke our gratitude and our envy. (Byron L. Sherwin, Vice President of Academic Affairs Emeritus, Distinguished Service Professor of Jewish Philosophy, Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Chicago, Illinois) Ranjit Chatterjee demonstrates an unusual mastery of complex philosophical and linguistic problems, combined with a historian's ability to follow the origins and development of ideas. His erudition in different disciplines is impressive, and his analyses are often profound. He has a keen interest in Jewish culture and the Hebrew language. This book will be received with great interest in Judaic studies as well as the general study of the history of philosophy and linguistics. (Joseph Dan, Gershom Scholem Professor of Kabbalah, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel) With an abundance of neglected evidence and brilliant arguments, Ranjit Chatterjee reveals the critical power of Wittgenstein's covert Judaism. His book is a masterpiece, setting new standards for Jewish modernity. It belongs in every library of critical philosophy and modern Jewish thought. (Jose Faur, Formerly Professor of Talmud at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City and at Bar-Ilan University (Ramat-Gan, Israel), Professor of Law at Netanya Law School, Author of 'Golden Doves with Silver Dots: Semiotics and Textuality in Rabbinic Tradition' and 'Homo Mysticus: A Guide to Maimonides's Guide for the Perplexed') Ranjit Chatterjee presents Wittgenstein as an intellectual Morrano, who concealed his Jewishness while secretly cherishing it. With prodigious intelligence and expository grace, Chatterjee decodes the dissimulated Jewish tropes and Jewish themes that decisively inform Wittgenstein's project. In doing so, Chatterjee also provides a hermeneutic strategy for plummeting the multiple layers of a philosopher whose work reshaped the basic contours of western thought. (Paul Mendes-Flohr, Divinity School, The University of Chicago; Director, The Franz Rosenzweig Research Center for German-Jewish Literature and Cultural History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Ranjit Chatterjee offers a radical and provocative account of Wittgenstein, not only as a Jew, but as a thinker in which Judaism, not mere Jewish identity, holds significance. This approach to Wittgenstein is completely outside of the accepted and traditional scholarly communities and discourse. It is powerfully, if not brilliantly, realized and should be required reading for all interested in Wittgenstein and the Jewish question in European history. (Leon Botstein, President of Bard College, Director of the American Symphony Orchestra and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra) Ranjit Chatterjee's 'Wittgenstein and Judaism: A Triumph of Concealment' is an engaged and engaging reading of Wittgenstein's life and work in the light of Jewish themes. Although not all will be convinced by all of the argument, much of it is highly compelling and everyone interested in the philosopher or his milieu should read it. (Daniel Boyarin, Taubmann Professor of Talmudic Culture, Departments of Rhetoric and Near Eastern Studies, University of California Berkeley) Ranjit Chatterjee's refined book presents Wittgenstein's way of thinking as implicitly Jewish as it explores the interaction between Wittgenstein's way of thinking, his critique of language, and a Jewish sensibility. It i
