Wittgenstein and Heidegger: A Perspective of a Comparison and an Argument for Practicality of Philosophy

Two greatest philosophical masters of previous century may not have very much in common at the first sight. Thou it is true that their biographies do not cross at any point, two philosophies still show a remarkable degree of similarity. Drawing from secondary literary sources the paper tries to interrelate the two Denkweise within - what may again sound surprising - pragmatist tradition. Stress on the embededness of human existence in the living world may well be the point which all three major strands of thought share. All three have in common their stress on human functioning inside its surroundings, thereby giving primacy to the practically-derrived knowledge rather than postulating pure theoretical principles. However, the paper argues that from Wittgenstein and Heidegger an argument for the full practicality and functionality of philosophy could be obtained. When it tackles with an attack on philosophy's credibility, paper draws from Wittgenstein's idea of philosophy as a therapy and Heidegger's account of technology to show that what is sometimes needed most is a change of perspective. Philosophy isn't practical only in the sense that it stresses human embededness in the world but practical in the sense of critical thought that could serve broader community as well.