WITTGENSTEIN AND PHILOSOPHY AS THERAPY

ABSTRACT. For Wittgenstein when we see a problem clearly or with clarity the problem disappears. This suggests that the process of philosophical is akin to certain kinds of therapy that which brings us relief from an incessant questioning, but only through a patient and painstaking process of linguistic analysis that attends to the detail through actual examples. For Wittgenstein clarity takes on an ethical and therapeutic aspect that brings both peace and contentment. This notion of clarity is not just a means for resolving puzzles, contradictions, confusions, or attaining conceptual clarity but becomes a meta-level goal that guides his whole therapeutic conception of philosophy.