Lebensform as Niche Construction: an Evolutionistic Reading of Wittgensteinian Hinges
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4396/20260602Parole chiave:
form of life, niche construction, Wittgenstein, language-gamesAbstract
Wittgenstein’s notion of “form of life” (Lebensform) has a controversial exegesis throughout its philosophical tradition. I aim to analyze this notion through the lens of niche-construction theory, a framework in the evolutionary sciences that considers how the way organisms actively modify their environment drives their evolutionary trajectory. I will argue that this framework can shed light on Wittgenstein’s notion of Lebensform in a way that captures the source of its exegetical ambiguity. By especially analyzing how Wittgenstein treats “common sense” or “hinge” propositions, I will argue that the concept of Lebensform tries to capture a need for structure that characterizes the human animal as such, but is necessarily realized in multiple ways, due to the multiplicity of the environments where human beings live in.
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