Born in Chester, UK. BA Oxford (PPE), MPhil Swansea, PhD University of Virginia. I teach at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA, USA. Most of what I write is about Wittgenstein, Anscombe, and/or ethics.
There are intriguing hints in the works of Stanley Cavell and Stephen Mulhall of a possible conne... more There are intriguing hints in the works of Stanley Cavell and Stephen Mulhall of a possible connection between ethics and Wittgenstein's remarks on private language, which are concerned with expressions of Empfindungen: feelings or sensations. The point of this paper is to make the case explicitly for seeing such a connection. What the point of that is I will address at the end of the paper. If Mulhall and Cavell both know their Wittgenstein and choose their words carefully, which I will take as given, then the (to me) irresistible ...
Elizabeth Anscombe criticizes Ludwig Wittgenstein for talking about the “natural expression of an... more Elizabeth Anscombe criticizes Ludwig Wittgenstein for talking about the “natural expression of an intention” in his Philosophical Investigations. I consider recent responses to this dispute, especially those by Richard Moran and Martin Stone (writing together) and by Martin Gustafsson. Moran and Stone explain why Anscombe rejects talk of non-human animals’ expressing intention, but emphasize the importance of language so much that it becomes hard to see on what basis intentions can ever be non-arbitrarily attributed to animals. Gustafsson notices this problem, and offers a solution based on biology and, in particular, knowledge of what is and is not conducive to the flourishing of members of each species. However, this goes beyond what Anscombe says and introduces other problems. I propose that we can sometimes simply see what an individual intends to do by observing its behavior, without reference to what is good or bad for members of its species. This is true to what Anscombe says and appears to avoid the problems faced by the other views considered.
This is the text of a talk I gave at Western Carolina University. It needs work, but I put it her... more This is the text of a talk I gave at Western Carolina University. It needs work, but I put it here in case it is of interest to someone.
This is not a polished work but notes on some works by Peter Winch (especially The Idea of a Soci... more This is not a polished work but notes on some works by Peter Winch (especially The Idea of a Social Science and "Understanding a Primitive Society") and Ludwig Wittgenstein (especially the Lecture on Ethics, the Philosophical Investigations, and the Remarks on Frazer).
Abstract Philosophy certainly has connections with science but it is not itself a science. Nor is... more Abstract Philosophy certainly has connections with science but it is not itself a science. Nor is it literature. But it is related to literature in a way that excessive emphasis on science can obscure. In this paper I defend the rather old-fashioned view that philosophy is essentially linguistic.
GEM Anscombe Elizabeth Anscombe, or Miss Anscombe as she was known, was an important twentieth ce... more GEM Anscombe Elizabeth Anscombe, or Miss Anscombe as she was known, was an important twentieth century philosopher and one of the most important women philosophers of all time. A committed Catholic, and translator of some of Ludwig Wittgenstein's most important work, she was an influential and original thinker in the Catholic tradition and the Wittgensteinian manner.
There are intriguing hints in the works of Stanley Cavell and Stephen Mulhall of a possible conne... more There are intriguing hints in the works of Stanley Cavell and Stephen Mulhall of a possible connection between ethics and Wittgenstein's remarks on private language, which are concerned with expressions of Empfindungen: feelings or sensations. The point of this paper is to make the case explicitly for seeing such a connection. What the point of that is I will address at the end of the paper. If Mulhall and Cavell both know their Wittgenstein and choose their words carefully, which I will take as given, then the (to me) irresistible ...
Elizabeth Anscombe criticizes Ludwig Wittgenstein for talking about the “natural expression of an... more Elizabeth Anscombe criticizes Ludwig Wittgenstein for talking about the “natural expression of an intention” in his Philosophical Investigations. I consider recent responses to this dispute, especially those by Richard Moran and Martin Stone (writing together) and by Martin Gustafsson. Moran and Stone explain why Anscombe rejects talk of non-human animals’ expressing intention, but emphasize the importance of language so much that it becomes hard to see on what basis intentions can ever be non-arbitrarily attributed to animals. Gustafsson notices this problem, and offers a solution based on biology and, in particular, knowledge of what is and is not conducive to the flourishing of members of each species. However, this goes beyond what Anscombe says and introduces other problems. I propose that we can sometimes simply see what an individual intends to do by observing its behavior, without reference to what is good or bad for members of its species. This is true to what Anscombe says and appears to avoid the problems faced by the other views considered.
This is the text of a talk I gave at Western Carolina University. It needs work, but I put it her... more This is the text of a talk I gave at Western Carolina University. It needs work, but I put it here in case it is of interest to someone.
This is not a polished work but notes on some works by Peter Winch (especially The Idea of a Soci... more This is not a polished work but notes on some works by Peter Winch (especially The Idea of a Social Science and "Understanding a Primitive Society") and Ludwig Wittgenstein (especially the Lecture on Ethics, the Philosophical Investigations, and the Remarks on Frazer).
Abstract Philosophy certainly has connections with science but it is not itself a science. Nor is... more Abstract Philosophy certainly has connections with science but it is not itself a science. Nor is it literature. But it is related to literature in a way that excessive emphasis on science can obscure. In this paper I defend the rather old-fashioned view that philosophy is essentially linguistic.
GEM Anscombe Elizabeth Anscombe, or Miss Anscombe as she was known, was an important twentieth ce... more GEM Anscombe Elizabeth Anscombe, or Miss Anscombe as she was known, was an important twentieth century philosopher and one of the most important women philosophers of all time. A committed Catholic, and translator of some of Ludwig Wittgenstein's most important work, she was an influential and original thinker in the Catholic tradition and the Wittgensteinian manner.
This is very close to the published version of the book. There is no index, though, and some page... more This is very close to the published version of the book. There is no index, though, and some page numbers might be slightly different than in the book.
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Papers by Duncan Richter