Yquem Zberg

“Wittgenstein and the Law: On Language, Mind and Law” explores the relationship between language, mind, and law through the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. The book starts with a brief sketch of the history of philosophy of language to reconstruct a linguist paradigm. It then traces the emergence of the modern philosophy of language and its culmination in the Linguistic Turn. Against this background, the book analyses both the early and late philosophy of Wittgenstein. It examines the shift from the logical analysis of ideal language in the “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” to the grammatical investigation of ordinary language in the “Philosophical Investigations”. It further tries to illuminate how Wittgenstein’s reflections on language, mind, and meaning connect to ethics and law. Finally, the book examines the critical potential of Wittgenstein’s thought for legal philosophy: His methodological contribution, the possibility of moral objectivity, and the prospect of normative universality. Bridging philosophy of language and legal theory, the book invites the reader to reconsider how legal meaning, understanding, and normativity are constituted in and through language.

Human dignity is an omnipresent current concept exhibiting a seemingly unparalleled normative force and moral authority. However, the recent inflated occurrence of this concept made it subject to harsh criticisms echoing the assertion of it constituting a void quasi-moralistic artifice. In the pursuit of refuting dignity scepticism and highlighting the normative significance of the concept of human dignity, this paper draws on different approaches to human dignity. Firstly, the term “human dignity” shall be approached from a systematic and historical perspective. Secondly, possible justifications of human dignity throughout the history of ideas shall be approached. Thirdly, the emergence of the legal conception of human dignity and its central importance in normative systems shall briefly be touched upon.