An investigation into the connections between Quakerism and the philosophy of Wittgenstein. It’s an exploration of their shared origins and characters, as well as their parallel philosophical and religious paths of entering, and finding ways out of, aporia. I hope to show what both Wittgensteinians and Quakers – particularly in the light of the concerns about the current state of the Religious Society of Friends in the UK – can learn from this analysis.

I have been working part-time on this on and off since 2018, and am now about to start writing up.

Topics

Quaker, worship, discernment, Wittgenstein, aporia.

About Chris Lord

(United Kingdom)

I’m a schoolteacher (Classics) who’s recently got into first Quakerism (Wanstead meeting) and then philosophy (Masters at Birkbeck 2015-2017). My project began with an attempt to link Quakers, Wittgenstein and non-human animals, through their shared limitations on, or non-use of, language. There was too much material, so the animals got dropped, perhaps for subsequent study.