By DeAnn Rossetti

“Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.” Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher, 1889-1951

Island resident Jess Rosenblatt has been addicted to philosophy for much of his life.

After getting a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in philosophy from the State University of New York, Binghamton, he was working as a teacher’s assistant when he was exposed to the writings of a relatively new philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and his life was never the same.

“Wittgenstein was writing in the late ’40s, early ’50s and I was studying him in the late ’60s, when it became clear he was the greatest philosopher of the last 100 years,” said Rosenblatt. “His was the first philosophy that you could apply to everyday life. It helped me in everything I’ve done from that point on.”

Wittgenstein, who was an engineer, not a philosopher by trade, was part of a revolution in mathematical logic early in the 20th century. He proposed a theory of logic as a science of meaning, so it would account for all meaningful texts and utterances. His “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” was thought to have brought modern philosophy to an end (by Wittgenstein and his followers) by having all its key problems solved by his system, and those metaphysical riddles that couldn’t be solved were reduced to nonsense.

Rosenblatt said that instead of getting his Ph.D. and teaching, he started working as a purchaser for a manufacturing company and began a lifelong career importing parts for manufacturers.

“When I started studying philosophy, the only road you could take was to become a professor, because philosophy didn’t apply to much else,” he said. “Once I got into manufacturing (currently as sales manager for CMF Industries) I didn’t read or study philosophy for over 20 years.”

Two years ago, Rosenblatt decided to write two books that would incorporate Wittgenstein’s philosophy, purely for his own enjoyment.

“This is not a commercial venture, which is why I published it POD,” he said. “The selling of it isn’t important, I wanted to write something that people might find interesting and that might help them, even if it’s only with their golf game.”

Rosenblatt wrote the first book, “The Greatest Golf Book Ever Written,” under the pseudonyms “Harry P Holmes” and “Ross N Kellogg.” He wrote the second book “Philosophical Investigations from the Sanctity of the Press” under the name “Henry Dribble” because the style in which the books were written was experimental.

“It seemed to me that since both books were written in the first person, that the author should be the first person,” he said. “Once I committed to pen names for each book, they became easier to write, as I could distance myself from what I wrote.”

The first half of “The Greatest Golf Book Ever Written” is a novel called “A Matter of Balance” that takes place in a prep school and is about the adventures of its author, Harry P. Holmes. The last half of the book is a textbook that Holmes and his fellow prep school students use written by their teacher, Ross N. Kellogg called “Golf Mechanics and Beyond.”

“A friend of mine read it and said that it helped his golf game,” said Rosenblatt. “It helped by logically breaking down the golf swing mechanically, so my hope is that people who read it for the golf will have more respect for logic (and Wittgenstein’s) philosophy, which was the method used to break down the golf swing.”

“Philosophical Investigations…” is a series of random remarks, stories and articles written by Henry Dribble, supposedly a student introduced in the “Greatest Golf book Ever Written” after he committed himself to an insane asylum.

“Every chapter begins with a quote of Wittgenstein that should be exploded throughout that chapter into concepts that are applied,” said Rosenblatt. “Wittgenstein said that there is no one logic and no one truth, all meanings come from context, and there are a multitude of contexts.”

Rosenblatt noted that this particular book, written in a style similar to stream of consciousness, will appeal to those who like jam or jazz music. He said that the book he’s currently working on is a “logical dictionary” that will follow the rules of logic rather than grammar.

Rosenblatt said although Wittgenstein was named one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century by Time magazine, most people have never heard of him because university professors find his theories threatening.

“Academics won’t promote him or teach his theories because they see him as destructive of all previous philosophy,” said Rosenblatt. “You’ll find more hackers who like him, I’m a philosophical hacker because I’m not in academics anymore.”

Rosenblatt hopes his audience will be students and young people, whom he believes are more open to new concepts.

“Society is irrational, not logical, which is why my books appeal to young people, because they struggle with people telling them this is the way it is when it doesn’t make sense,” he said. “Young people find it easier to accept alternative approaches to life, vs. older people who conform. A totally relativistic logic appeals to them.”

Rosenblatt, an Island resident since 1982, said he hopes that his subtle introduction to Wittgensteins philosophy will catch on with the public.

“Wittgenstein always talked about himself as a therapist,” said Rosenblatt. “He provides tools to help people think properly.”

Jess Rosenblatt will be signing his books at Island Books from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on March 5.