My second thesis is that what appears to be the prima facie method of teach- ing philosophy is liable to produce a philosophy which answers Wittgenstein’s description. What I mean by ‘prima facie method of teaching philosophy’, and what would seem to be the only method, is that of giving the beginner (whom we take to be unaware of the history of mathematical, cosmological, and other ideas of science as well as of politics) the works of the great philosophers to read; the works, say, of Plato and Aristotle, Descartes and Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant and Mill. What is the effect of such a course of reading? A new world of astonishingly subtle and vast abstractions opens itself before the reader; abstractions on an extremely high and difficult level. Thoughts and arguments are put before his mind which sometimes are not only hard to understand, but which seem to him irrelevant because he cannot find out what they may be relevant to. Yet the student knows that these are the great philosophers, that this is the way of philosophy. Thus he will make an effort to adjust his mind to what he believes (mistakenly, as we shall see) to be their way of thinking. He will attempt to speak their queer language, to match the tortuous spirals of their argumentation, and perhaps even tie himself up in their curious knots. Some may learn these tricks in a superficial way, others may begin to become genuinely fascinated addicts. Yet I feel that we ought to respect the man who having made his effort comes ultimately to what may be described as Wittgenstein’s conclusion: ‘I have learned the jargon as well as anybody. It is very clever and captivating. In fact, it is dangerously captivat- ing; for the simple truth about the matter is that it is much ado about nothing –just a lot of nonsense.’
Now I believe such a conclusion to be grossly mistaken; yet it is the almost inescapable outcome, I contend, of the prima facie method of teaching philo- sophy here described. (I do not deny, of course, that some particularly gifted students may find very much more in the works of the great philosophers than this story indicates–and without self-deception.) For the student’s chance of discovering the extra-philosophical problems (mathematical, scientific, moral, and political problems) which inspired these great philosophers is very small indeed. As a rule, these problems can be discovered only by studying the history of, for example, scientific ideas, and especially the problem-situation in mathematics and the sciences during the period in question; and this in turn presupposes a considerable acquaintance with mathematics and science. Only if he understands the contemporary problem-situation in the sciences can the student of the great philosophers understand that they tried to solve urgent and concrete problems; problems which they found could not be dis- missed. And only after understanding this can the student attain a different picture of the great philosophies–one which makes sense of the apparent nonsense.
From, Conjectures and Refutations, pages 72 – 73
