From Wittgenstein to Homer: Ethics, ‘World-Pictures,’ and Iliadic Time

The controversial idea that a proper ethics of human relationships means empathizing not just with the practical situations others face, but also how they experience and evaluate their lives in terms of a unifying ethical vision is partly prefigured in Wittgenstein’s late conception of ‘world-pictures.’ But Wittgenstein, discussing this alongside other related forms of commitment, also stresses their intertwinement with temporality and contingency. Given that the implications remain unexplored, I attempt to shed light on them through a comparison with the conception of the temporality of human affairs, and notions of ethical value, disclosed in Homer’s epic poem The Iliad.