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And not just any PhD, a Cambridge PhD, using said Tractatus as the dissertation. Astonishing.
by siglesias 14y ago
And not just any PhD, a Cambridge PhD, using said Tractatus as the dissertation. Astonishing.
- ot 14y agoAt that time the Ph.D. was something new in European universities; it was basically imported from the US. Many professors didn't welcome the novelty, including one of Wittgenstein's examiners, who wrote in his report: "The Tractatus is a work of genius, but it otherwise satisfies the requirements for a Ph.D." EDIT: I should have said "British" instead of "European", see comments below.
- Van_av_Ordning 14y agoYou have things the wrong way round. The Ph.D. degree originated in Germany.
- ot 14y agoYou are right, but it came to UK through US: From the United States, the Ph.D. degree spread to Canada in 1900, and then to the United Kingdom in 1917. (from Wikipedia)
- enjolras 14y agoMaybe the name Ph. D., but the Ph. D. itself is older in the USA and in Europe. There were Ph. D. in the 19th century both in Europe and in Universities like Yale or Harvard.
- Van_av_Ordning 14y agoCould you clarify? Humboldt University started granting PhDs in the early 19th century, Yale in 1861, so yes, of course there were PhDs in the 19th century.
- zmmz 14y agoAt the time, the PhD was not seen very highly in the department, and in the report on the defence of the PhD Moore famously said: "It is my personal opinion that Mr. Wittgenstein’s thesis is a work of genius; but, be that as it may, it is certainly well up to the standard required for the Cambridge degree of Doctor of Philosophy’ So, it was not seen as an achievement at all!
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- kleiba 14y agoSo, it was not seen as an achievement at all! I don't get that interpretation from that quote at all. To me, the quote is about contrasting the speaker's subjective view with a more objective "standard" requirement for a PhD degree. It's basically saying: "To me, his work as that of a genius. But YMMV. However, even if you don't want to go quite that far, you'll certainly admit that it's great and fulfills the requirements for a PhD." Not being the work of a genius does not necessarily mean that it's not an achievement.
- fluidcruft 14y agoI think it's more along the lines of: the degree itself is a insignificant and unworthy of his work. It's like giving him a Kindergarten gold star sticker. Which says something about the quality of his work, or of other degree holders, or both.
- mturmon 14y agoDisagree. The quote reflects this observation: Just because the thesis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractatus_Logico-Philosophicus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractatus_Logico-Philosophicus) exceeds the requirements for the degree, does not make the degree insignificant.