The Possibility of Reddish Green: Wittgenstein Outside Philosophy

David Rothenberg

5.5 x 8.25 inches

191 pages

20 b&w illustrations

ISBN  978-1-949597-07-3

The expression of his eyes remained the same: a cold, piercing sadness.  Yet his final words were, "Tell them I had a happy life." This poetic book examines the way Ludwig Wittgenstein has influenced artists and writers beyond his own field, thereby touching the subject of how philosophy can be relevant at large. Carefully illustrated with work by Leif Haglund, Doug Hall, and Muriel Wood-Ponzecchi, Rothenberg situates Wittgenstein in the age of the soundbite and the artistic fragment, promoting an aesthetic of detachment just as he seeks to find a route through the sea of churning ideas that mark our time. 

David Rothenberg is distinguished professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

A finalist for the 2020 Big Other Book Award.

“If writing’s task is to axe the frozen sea within us, David Rothenberg makes the weapon sing. In its glittering exploration of some of Wittgenstein‘s most resonant interpreters, The Possibility of Reddish Green touches what the Tractatus doesn’t say: that whole time the ladder was an instrument.”

—Lindsay Stern, author of The Study of Animal Languages

“Rothenberg offers a penetrating look at how one world-class philosopher made us ask whether our words really mean what we say. His insights unlock the intriguing questions underlying our current ambivalence about the notion of truth.”

—David Appelbaum, author of Notes on Water

“Wittgenzinged.”

—Richard Kostelanetz, author of Conversing with Cage