On Wittgenstein: he is a good example of how convoluted things became in
pre-War Germany. As personally negotiated by Wittgenstein, his family
remitted a full 1.7 tons of gold to the Fascist party in order to acquire
Mischlinge status for two of sisters [who refused to leave Vienna].
His comments on his own ethnic identity are ponderables. But hardly the
public's business. He fiercely practiced and preached authenticity--to the
point of cruelty--but that doesn't undermine what he has to say on the
subject.
I did want to add that Nietzche hardly knew any women, so his particular
attitudes are definitely irrelevant. For the most part, tolerance of
differences seems to be an attribute of philosophy, not it's downfall.
However, I honestly do have difficulty whenever encountering extreme and
active racism and other bigotry in someone's writing. It just does.
Certainly it undermines any social theory they may put forward.
As to Newton and Einstein--while certainly philosophers in some sense, their
contributions are hardly social in nature. So it hardly matters that
Einstein was personally an emotional incompetent. Einstein's political work
was simply his use of an acquired bully pulpit, comparable to the politics
of actors and other celebrities. Newton was charmingly private. It is
wonderful when individuals maintain a separation between professional and
personal.
Susanna
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