James C. Klagge

Professor of Philosophy (Just what is it that philosophers do? Click here for an answer.)
Department of Philosophy
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Virginia
U.S.A.  24061-0126
540-231-8487, Fax: 540-231-6367
jklagge (at) vt (dot) edu

Students in my Phil. 1204: Knowledge & Reality click here for Course Material

 

Students in my Hum. 1114: Classical Age in Greece click here for Course Material

List of my Courses Taught at Virginia Tech, or Courses Taught Elsewhere

List of my  Major Publications
 
 

Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophical Occasions: 1912-1951, Hackett Publishing Co., 1993 ed., J. Klagge & A. Nordmann	Wittgenstein in Exile, by J. Klagge, MIT Press, 2011	Wittgenstein: Biography and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, 2001 ed., J. Klagge	Ludwig Wittgenstein: Public and Private Occasions, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003 ed., J. Klagge & A. Nordmann

 

My favorite philosopher is Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951).  Most of my research since 1990 has been about him.  Time magazine, in 1999, named him one of the top 25 thinkers of the Twentieth Century--he was the only philosopher on their list.  Here is a rather poor picture of him, taken in 1939 in the Fellows Garden of Trinity College, Cambridge:

Click for Public Issues Publications

Mediation:  "Mediation is a voluntary and confidential way to resolve disputes without giving the decision-making power to someone else (like a judge). It involves sitting down with the other side in the dispute and a third-party who is neutral and impartial (the mediator). The mediator helps the parties identify the important issues in the dispute and decide how they can resolve it themselves. The mediator doesn't tell them what to do, or make a judgment about who's right and who's wrong. Control over the outcome of the case stays with the parties."

I am a Virginia Supreme Court-certified mediator for Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Courts.  My current certification runs from December, 2002 to November, 2008. Here are my reflections on the nature and value of mediation: "Conflict and Mediation".

If you are interested in using mediation for a dispute, please contact one of these centers that I work with:

Better Agreements, Inc, 305 Washington St., Blacksburg, VA; 540-552-1200; shiner@BetterAgreements.org .

Conflict Resolution Center of Roanoke, 4504 Starkey Road #120  Roanoke, VA 24018; (540) 342-2063; director@conflictresolutioncenter.us

 

 

 

 

 

Hobbies:
Running- I have run many marathons, and I ran most of a 50-mile ultra-marathon.

 

Reading- I read lots of different stuff, but my favorite writers are:
Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol, Milan Kundera, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, Mark Helprin, and Wendell Berry.

I worked as an editor on a new translation of the Czech novel, The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Svejk, by Jaroslav Hasek. The translator is Zenny Sadlon. The first book/volume of the translation is available here. I did not assist with that, but I have suggested errata. To learn more about Hasek and Svejk look here. The full book is available here.

Here is what I have been reading lately (updated regularly).

 

 

Music- I like lots of different stuff, but by far my favorite performer is Bob Dylan. Here are some pictures of him performing:

 

1966-with Robbie Robertson & Band	1975-Rolling Thunder Review	2005-now he plays keyboard

 
I have seen Bob live 6 times. In Blacksburg at Cassell Coliseum in December, 1989, with G.E. Smith leading his back-up band. That was good. In April, 1993 at Radford. That was abysmal. In November, 1994 in Roanoke, which was good. In Burruss Hall at Virginia Tech on April 29, 2001. That was a great concert, and you can read my review of it here. On June 9, 2004, Nick and I saw him perform in Salem. It was another very good concert, which I reviewed here. Then there was an OK show at the Salem minor-league ballpark on June 10, 2005, reviewed here.

Bob never lived down to our expectations of him, and that is what I like most about him.  I also like Neil Young a lot for that reason.  My appreciation of both of these performers was most enhanced by reading books about them by Paul Williams.  Especially, Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, The Middle Years (1974-1986).  This book also turned me on to finding bootleg cds of Dylan concerts and unreleased studio work, from 1960 through the present.  I have hundreds of these, and it can be an addiction. Here are my reflections on Bootlegging Bob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cars- Growing up I cannot say I was ever a big car fan.  But partly through the influence of my son, Nick, and perhaps partly through the on-set of mid-life, I decided to get a neat car.
 

I got a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX, 227 hp, turbo-charged.	I got rally-racing headlights for it.

It was named Automobile Magazine Automobile of the Year for 2002. 

See you on the streets!