Weininger and Wittgenstein on “Animal Psychology”

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511616914.007

6 - Weininger and Wittgenstein on “Animal Psychology”

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2009

David G. Stern

Edited by

David G. Stern and

Béla Szabados

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David G. Stern: Affiliation:
University of Iowa, USA
David G. Stern: Affiliation:
University of Iowa
Béla Szabados: Affiliation:
University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

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Summary

Introduction

In November 1916, when Wittgenstein was serving in the Austro-Hungarian army, his oldest sister, Hermine, wrote to him that “I have taken your Weininger with me and am very happy with this book; it replaces you for me, a little.” It is not clear which Weininger book Hermine was referring to, but in another letter to her brother, written in 1931, she playfully refers to On Last Things: “I believe Weininger maintained that milk is the only innocent food, because it destroys no seed …” The passage in question is part of the collection of aphorisms that makes up the second chapter of that book:

The vegetarians are just as wrong as their opponents. Anyone who does not wish to contribute to the killing of living things may only drink milk, for anyone who eats fruit or eggs still kills embryos. That is perhaps why milk is the healthiest food, because it is the most ethical.

At first sight, one might take the point of Weininger's aphorism to be to make fun of those whose logical consistency drives them to take up positions that cannot, in practice, be maintained. However, his rejection of both sides in this dispute closely parallels his own substantive ethical outlook, which also sets an impossibly high standard by which to judge human action. For Weininger maintains that to live a virtuous life one must not only rejectimmorality but also conventional mores, devoting oneself wholeheartedly to a life of celibacy and extreme self-denial.

Type: Chapter
Information: Wittgenstein Reads Weininger , pp. 169 - 197

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616914.007 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2004

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