A Brief Analysis Of Wittgenstein's Religious Views In The Later Phase

During Wittgenstein's life,he did not systematically propose any religious theory.Even he is not a true religious person,but he has a strong religious sentiment and actively and passionately pays attention to various religious problems.Few scholars in China study Wittgenstein's religious thoughts,because most scholars explore his theory from other aspects,including language philosophy,logic,psychology,mathematical philosophy,phenomenology and so on.However,this does not mean that Wittgenstein's religious thoughts are not worth studying,but because Wittgenstein's thoughts have changed significantly in the later period.There is a gap between his religious thoughts in the later period and the religious views accepted by ordinary people.The formation of Wittgenstein's religious thought was influenced by his own family environment and personal character,and was also influenced by Tolstoy,Kierkegaard,James,etc.These factors contribute to make Wittgenstein come up with his own unique concept of religion and his own unique religious ideas.This paper will analyze Wittgenstein's religious views from three dimensions,namely,“language game”,“life form”and the concept of God.As far as language games are concerned,he believes that the rules of language games in religion are not based on a certain history,a transcendental assumption or a special form of understanding.He sees religion as a completely closed language game,arguing that people participate in religious practice in a way that uses only specific word forms or specific language games,and has nothing to do with any other behavior.From the perspective of life form,he believes that religious belief is a special form of life and a life attitude that people have in real life.The process of transforming a non-religious person into a religious believer is essentially a process of completely changing the way they live.Religious people's outlook on life is rooted in their daily life,so religion is an experience derived from real life.As far as the concept of God is concerned,he first emphasizes that the existence of God is meaningless and against the use of rational evidence to prove the existence of God.People firmly believe in God in real life is an important and meaningful thing in life.This is also an important part of understanding the meaning of life.In fact,later Wittgenstein's religious view denied the rational function of man.From Wittgenstein's point of view,his religious belief and scientific rational spirit are completely different positions.From the perspective of people's current life style,science,on the one hand,has led to the progress of human society and the sharp increase of material wealth,but at the same time,the increasingly empty spiritual life of modern people actually violates the belief life advocated by Wittgenstein.Of course,Wittgenstein does not deny the progressive role of science and reason,but if we want to overcome the spiritual emptiness of mankind and meet the spiritual needs of mankind,the role of religion will be irreplaceable.