Open to view, nothing to explain

Here’s a little haiku inspired by Wittgenstein:

All open to view
Bringing itself to an end
Nothing to explain

In Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein posits that “philosophy simply puts everything before us, and neither explains nor deduces anything.—Since everything lies open to view there is nothing to explain” (Anscombe translation, 1958). This last phrase felt very Zen, so it seemed apt to write a haiku!

According to Wittgenstein, the role of philosophy is to lay the groundwork “before all new discoveries and inventions”. In other words, philosophy is a kind of preparatory practice. The philosopher’s unique contribution is to uncover that which is commonly overlooked; for “the real foundations of his enquiry do not strike a man at all…and this means: we fail to be struck by what, once seen, is most striking and most powerful”

Philosophy seeks to unearth that which is taken for granted. So the philosopher’s work happens at the bedrock of inquiry. Unfortunately, we are equipped with the blunt tool of language. Working with such a limited instrument, philosophy can confuse what it seeks to clarify.

In the best case, philosophy provides complete clarity, which “means that the philosophical problems should completely disappear”. In the worst case, philosophy muddies up the inquiry further, engendering “a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language”

Confusion exists only at the relative level of mind. At the absolute level, everything is open to view. Nothing to explain. Returning to Zen, there is a famous story in which a monk named Fayan goes on pilgrimage to meet Dizang. When Dizang asked Fayan why he made this pilgrimage, he answered “I don’t know” to which Dizang replied “Good. Not knowing is most intimate“

We place artificial distance between ourselves and the universe when we seek to know it. That distance vanishes when we rest as it. The point is not to give up inquiry altogether, but to acknowledge its modest role.

“For we can avoid ineptness or emptiness in our assertions only by presenting the model as what it is, as an object of comparison—as, so to speak, a measuring-rod; not as a preconceived idea to which reality must correspond. (The dogmatism into which we fall so easily in doing philosophy)” says Wittgenstein.

For complete clarity, we must give up language and mind. For narrow problem-solving, narrow tools can be useful.