Quid Est Ergo Rationalitas? Review of Michael Peters’ Wittgenstein, Education and the Problem of Rationality

Resumen

This analysis of Michael Peters’ recent book, “Wittgenstein, Education and the Problem of Rationality”, was carried out through a conversation between four characters: Oninitibeci, Iniwataale, Iniwatadigini, and Gobaagadi. Their names correspond, respectively, to the numerals one, two, three and four (“our hand”) in the Kadiweu language, spoken by an indigenous group from the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, in Brazil. The main points, aroused by a collective reading of the book, are spontaneously distributed throughout the conversation as a result of the exchange of views among the partakers. They all have practice in mathematics teaching, or philosophy, and frequently discuss educational issues in the light of Wittgenstein’s texts. It is from this perspective that they raised a number of critical points within Peters’ work. However, it is never too much to remember that the characters maintain ideas independent from each other, so not only they sometimes differ in their evaluations but can also disagree on certain aspects of their readings. The point is that from the heat generated by the dialogical activity springs the conclusion of the importance of Peters’ book and its decisive contribution to decolonial discussions about Wittgenstein and his role in the philosophy of education.