키에르케고르와 비트겐슈타인

Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein : The Way of Self-Cultivation

키에르케고르와 비트겐슈타인의 사상적 관련은 두 사람이 모두 ‘말할 수 없는 것’을 ‘보여주는’ 데에 관심을 기울였고, 그 면에서 천재성을 발휘하였다는 사실에서 확인된다. 비트겐슈타인의 「논리철학논고」에서 부각되는 ‘말할 수 없는 것’과 ‘보여주는 것’이라는 표현은 ‘종교’와 ‘간접전달’이라는 키에르케고르의 주제에 상응한다. 후기 비트겐슈타인의 철학적 업적을 대표하는 ‘삶의 형식’과 ‘언어게임’이라는 아이디어는 전기 철학이 ‘말할 수 없는 것’과 ‘보여주는 것’을 다루는 면에서 안고 있던 한계를 극복하려고 했던 그의 노력의 산물이다. 키에르케고르와 비트겐슈타인에게 있어서 간접전달은 전달받는 사람의 내면에 ‘삶의 형식으로서의 종교’를 일깨움으로써 그를 심성함양으로 이끄는 교육의 방법이다. 비트겐슈타인의 철학적 관심은 결국, 간접전달의 언어게임을 탐색하는 데에 있었다고 말할 수 있으며, 따라서 그의 ‘철학연구’는 ‘교육학연구’로 해석될 수 있다.

As many scholars noted, there are some respectable parallels between Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein in regard to ways of thinking and communication. They strived to show ‘what cannot be said’ by delimiting what can be said in their own styles. Their deep concern for religion can be construed as pursuing the ineffable truth beyond the limit of language. And their masterful writings can be conceived as the effective means of ‘showing’ it. The hierarchical series of the three stages of life(aesthetic, ethical, and religious stage) which Kierkegaard proposed in his pseudonymous works represents how far each of them embodies the Wittgensteinian ‘form of life.’ Kierkegaard s vivid depiction of ‘religious stage’ manifests most perfectly the concept of religion which the form of life constitutes. In the context of Wittgenstein s works, ‘form of life’ is used for defining ‘language-game’ which is suggested as the corrective for his early ‘mistaken’ thoughts on language, namely, ‘picture theory of meaning.’ It is not mere an exaggeration to say that these ideas resulted from Wittgenstein s efforts to cure the defect of his early thought “with constant reference to” Kierkegaard. These can also be applied to understanding Kierkegaard theory and practice of ‘indirect communication’, in that it exemplifies a ‘perlocutionary speech act’ for self-cultivation in Christianity, made possible by ‘performative’ uses of language. Indirect communication should be understood as a way of self-cultivation to help the recipient appropriate the religiosity as Wittgensteinian form of life in the process of participating in what can be called ‘language-game for self-cultivation.’ In Kierkegaard s authorship, the theoretical discourse on indirect communication can give the same effect to the self-cultivation of its participants as the practice of it. It means that the theory of indirect communication exemplifies ‘metapraxis’ in the sense of ‘practice of practice.’ Wittgenstein s later works can be interpreted as pursuing the language-game that the theory and practice of indirect communicator may be expected to perform. It implies that the idea of language-game can conduce to understanding the metapractical nature of educational theory.