2nd Semester 2020/21: Reading Tractatus

Instructors

Hao Tang (Tsinghua University), Martin Stokhof

ECTS

3

Description

The Joint Research Center in Logic of Tsinghua University and the University of Amsterdam organises a series of ten lectures between mid May and mid June to commemorate the fact in 2021 it is 100 years ago that Wittgenstein's Tractatus was first published. For more information, see: http://tsinghualogic.net/JRC/?page_id=2364 

By way of preparation, we organise a short, intensive reading group that is strictly focussed on reading the text of the Tractatus itself. This will allow students and interested faculty members, who have not read the Tractatus or who want to refresh their memory of it, to prepare for the lecture series so as to maximise its benefits.

Organisation

Like the Centennial Lectures Series, this event will be on-line, via Zoom. It will run for two weeks, with two sessions of two hours per week. An extension with a fifth session week can be considered if need arises.

Each meeting will be devoted to a discussion of a specific portion of the text. It will feature short introductions by Hao Tang and/or Martin Stokhof; identification of problematic passages; questions and discussions by all participants.

Reckon with two hours of preparation for each two-hour session.

The reading group will meet on Mondays and Fridays in week 15 (Monday April 12) and week 16 (Monday April 19), with a possible extension into week 17 (Monday April 26).

The conveners, Hao Tang and Martin Stokhof, are located in different time zones (East Coast US and Europe, respectively), and some participants will be located in yet another time zone (China).

The time slot for the reading group to meet is therefore set as follows:

21.00 – 23.00 China (CST or UTC+8) =

15.00 – 17.00 Europe (CET or UTC+2) =

09.00 – 11.00 US, Eastern (EDT or UTC-4)

Prerequisites

The reading group is open for students of Tsinghua University and the University of Amsterdam.  Some background in analytic philosophy ( philosophy of language and/or logic) is useful, but not an absolute requirement. 

Assessment

Requirements for getting credits are:

- active participation;
- preparation of questions; 
- a 3000 word paper on a topic to be decided in consultation with the conveners;
- attendance of those lectures that are relevant for that topic.  

References

More information and a registration form can be found here: http://tsinghualogic.net/JRC/?page_id=2373