• Wittgenstein, Loos, and the Critique of Ornament

    Author(s):
    Andreas Vrahimis (see profile)
    Date:
    2021
    Group(s):
    Philosophy
    Subject(s):
    Aesthetics, Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1889-1951, Loos, Adolf, 1870-1933, Architecture, Modernism (Art), Heidegger, Martin, 1889-1976
    Item Type:
    Article
    Permanent URL:
    https://doi.org/10.17613/ezz2-nb89
    Abstract:
    Adolf Loos is one of the few figures that Wittgenstein explicitly named as an influence on his thought. Loos’s influence has been debated in the context of determining Wittgenstein’s relation to modernism, as well as in attempts to come to terms with his work as an architect. This paper looks in a different direction, examining a remark in which Wittgenstein responded to Heidegger’s notorious pronouncement that ‘the Nothing noths’ by reference to Loos’s critique of ornamentation. Wittgenstein draws a parallel between the requirement to start philosophy with an inarticulate sound and the need, in certain cultural periods, to highlight the borders of tablecloths using lace. Paying heed to Wittgenstein’s remark sheds further light on a Loosian influence at work in his thinking about modern civilization, both in his well-known ‘Lectures on Aesthetics’ and in the earlier notes from his 1930 lectures at Cambridge.
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    10.33134/eeja.218
    Publisher:
    Helsinki University Press
    Pub. Date:
    2021-9-16
    Journal:
    Estetika: The European Journal of Aesthetics
    Volume:
    LVIII/XIV
    Issue:
    2
    Page Range:
    144 - 159
    ISSN:
    2571-0915
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    1 year ago
    License:
    Attribution

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