On Wittgenstein, Philosophy, and Poetry

Article Submitted by Phin Upham

I recently re-read ” The Geology of Norway: Poem with Introduction,” by Jan Zwicky, included in my essay collection called Space of Love and Garbage. Jan Zwicky’s books include Wittgenstein Elegies, Lyric Philosophy, Songs for Relinquishing the Earth, and Wisdom and Metaphor. She teaches in the Philosophy Department at the University of Victoria.

Here is the bio (above) from the essay and a quotation of my favorite paragraphs of the essay (below).

Over the years, Wittgenstein made a number of working visits to Skjolden, a village on the Sognefjorden in Norway. The first, and perhaps most significant, of these occurred in 1913–14, at which time Wittgenstein began to work intensively on ideas that were to receive their final form in the Tractatus, the only book published in his lifetime. The last occurred over twenty years later, by which time Wittgenstein was attempting to rework material he had dictated in lectures at Cambridge in the mid-1930s and which we now know as The Blue and Brown Books. He left Norway late in 1937 without having wrestled the material into what he felt was publishable form. He did return one more time for a brief holiday in the summer of 1950, a visit cut short by the illness from which he was to die a year later—but his departure in 1937 marked the end of his use of Norway as a working retreat.

——————————————————————————————

Article written by Phin Upham. Phin Upham is an investor, ex-journalist and a writer. He has edited and published several books. Visit Phin Upham Facebook page for more info.

If you want to but this book go to Ebay : Space of Love & Garbage – Phin Upham