In this paper I focus on the notion of worldview as a conceptual scheme and the role of language in shaping our view of reality. In particular, I engage with Wittgenstein’s notion of World-picture in order to suggest an alternative account to the deceptive dogmatic conception of worldview, which is exemplified by C.I. Lewis’s account of cognitive experience. I argue that worldviews constitute the way in which the world is given in a particular socio-linguistic context and they presuppose the mastery (...) of a World-picture, that is, the inherited background of our acting and thinking. First, I will distinguish between two different uses of the term “worldview”. Then I will show the way in which a metaphysical-dogmatic conception of worldview leads to the Myth of the Semantic Given. Finally, I will present Wittgenstein’s notion of World-picture and its connection to the notion of worldview. (shrink)

I demonstrate that analogies, both explicit and implicit, between Wittgenstein’s discussions of rituals, aesthetics, and aspect-perception, have important payoffs in terms of understanding his notion of a “surveyable representation” (übersichtliche Darstellung) as it applies to phenomena that are not exclusively grammatical in nature. In particular, I argue that a surveyable representation of certain anthropological and aesthetic facts allows us to see, qua form of aspect-perception, internal relations and formal connections, so that the inner nature of a ritual or the solution (...) of an aesthetic puzzle is exhibited. This particular form of seeing both explains why Wittgenstein thought that hypothetical explanations about the origins of a ritual are irrelevant to appreciating its meaning and elucidates his understanding of rituals, which involves seeing “internal relations” and “formal connections.” The upshots of the account for work in anthropology are discussed. (shrink)

Volume 52, Issue 12, November 2020, Page 1225-1232.

Volume 27, Issue 1, February 2019, Page 73-102.

Although cognitive neuroscience mainly studies the biological underpinnings and neuronal processes of human cognition, cognitive scientists have quite recently recognized that the external world, including both the natural environment and the cultural and social settings, may affect and modify human cognitive abilities. In this chapter, I intend to highlight that the most recent cognitive theories, mainly developed in the field of the study of religion, remove the dualism between brain and body and promote a multifaceted conception of human cognition, which (...) embraces the body, the brain and the world. In this framework, my intention is to indicate points of convergence between cognitive approaches and Wittgenstein’s philosophical considerations, and potentially to outline new directions for further discussions between cognitive theoreticians and Wittgensteinian philosophers. In particular, I claim that interdisciplinary collaboration between cognitive scientists, historians and philosophers may deepen our understanding of human beings and of the ways in which humans subjectively perceive the world and develop multiple worldviews. (shrink)