On First Looking Into Aristotle's Metaphysics -- First Carnap, Then Grice

Speranza

We know Grice learned Aristotle from Hardie at Corpus Christi.

What about Carnap?

-- and the title is meant as an echo on first looking into Chapman's Homer.

Wikipedia reads:

"Carnap's father had risen from the status of a poor ribbon-weaver to become the owner of a ribbon-making factory."

Good.

"His mother [on the other hand\ came from academic stock."

"Her father was an educational reformer and her oldest brother was the archaeologist Wilhelm Dörpfeld."

GREEK CONNECTION -- or Grecian connection as I prefer -- cfr. my "Ode on a Griceian urn".


"As a ten-year old, Carnap accompanied his uncle on an expedition to Greece.^[1]"


So we expect he read about 'philosophy' being one of the creations of that 'miracle' that Greece was, as books promote it.

Wikipedia continues:

"Carnap began his formal education at the Barmen Gymnasium."

I would assume that at the gym, Carnap read Greek.

Recall that Grice had attended Clifton were Greek was mandatory in the sixth form. I would suspect that at the gym or public school level, it would be poetical Greek, rather than philosophical Greek that would be promoted. At most, Plato. But HARDLY Aristotle, which school masters denigrate as not writing 'proper Greek' at all.

Wikipedia continues:

"From 1910 to 1914, Carnap attended the University of Jena, intending to write a thesis in physics. But he also studied carefully Kant's Critique of Pure Reason during a course taught by Bruno Bauch, and was one of very few students to attend Gottlob Frege's courses in mathematical logic. While Carnap held moral and political opposition to World War I, he felt obligated to serve in the German army."

I don't think I'm too familiar with the curriculum offered by Jena between 1910 and 1914, and perhaps I should continue reading Wikipedia to recheck when Carnap makes an early reference to Aristotle -- the metaphysician.

Interestingly, Kant was an interest of Carnap, as was of Grice who would rank "Kantotle" as his favourite philosopher ("Ariskant" being the second).