Kallenberg argues that Wittgensteinโs pedagogical strategy cultivates certain skills of judgment in his readers by making them struggle to move past the aporias and acquire the fluency of languageโs deeper grammar. Theologians, says Kallenberg, are well suited to this task of "going on" because the gift of Christianity supplies them with the requisite resources for reading Wittgenstein. Kallenberg uses Hauerwas to make this caseโshowing that Wittgensteinโs aporetic philosophy has engaged Hauerwas in a lifelong conversation that has cured him of many philosophical confusions. Yet, because Hauerwas comes to the conversation as a Christian believer, he is able to surmount Wittgensteinโs aporias with the assistance of theological convictions that he possesses through grace.
Ethics as Grammar reveals that Wittgensteinโs intention to cultivate concrete skill in real people was akin to Aristotleโs emphasis on the close relationship of practical reason and ethics. In this thought-provoking book, Kallenberg demonstrates that Wittgenstein does more than simply offer a vantage point for reassessing Aristotle, he paves the way for ethics to become a distinctively Christian discipline, as exemplified by Stanley Hauerwas.
Brad J. Kallenberg is professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton, Ohio.