Alexander Berg
M.A., Ph.D. · Philosopher
I work on German Idealism – above all Hegel – and on Wittgenstein, and on the literary form of philosophy: how philosophical works are written, and why their form matters for what they say.
Until recently, I was a Feodor Lynen Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the University of Zurich, where I am completing my habilitation.
Work Diary
What I am working on, what is under review or in press, and what has recently appeared.
In progress
- Zur literarischen Form von Philosophie – Grundlinien eines Systems der LiteraturHabilitation thesis, University of Zurich. The part on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit is largely complete; I am now writing the part on the literary form of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations. Updated
- Up next Die Liebe zum Wissen ablegen. Hegel und Wittgenstein als gegenläufige WeisheitskritikenFor the new series Weisheit und Weisheitskritik. Philosophische Erkundungen, ed. Moritz R. Pretzsch & Jan Kerkmann (Velbrück Wissenschaft). Updated
- Planned Wittgenstein and HegelElements in the Philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, ed. David G. Stern (Cambridge University Press). Updated
Under review / in press
- Goethe’s Influence on Hegel’s Phenomenology of SpiritFor Goethe and Philosophy, ed. Jan Kerkmann & Moritz Pretzsch (Springer, 2026).Submitted, under review. Updated
- Zur literarischen Form der Phänomenologie des Geistes – Methode und BedeutungHegel-Jahrbuch 2024, ed. Brady Bowman, Myriam Gerhard & Jure Zovko (Duncker & Humblot).Accepted, awaiting publication. Updated
- Special issue: Wittgenstein and Hegel on Normativity and RationalityEd. Alexander Berg & Kenan Šljivo, Synthesis Philosophica 41/1, with my article Possibility and Probability – Wittgenstein in Russia, and the Curious Case of the Yellow Book. Presented at the XXXVI International Hegel Congress, Rome, Sept. 2026.Completed, awaiting publication. Updated
Recently published
- Book presentation Wittgenstein and Hegel on Normativity and RationalitySynthesis Philosophica special issue. XXXVI International Hegel Congress, Rome.
- Talk Goethe’s Artistic Influence on the Phenomenology of SpiritXXXVI International Hegel Congress, Rome.
- Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Photography of Everyday LifeIn Wittgenstein and Popular Culture (Anthem Press).
Conference Series “Wittgenstein & Hegel”, 2017–2024
“Hegel seems to me to be always wanting to say that things which look different are really the same. Whereas my interest is in showing that things which look the same are really different.” Starting from this remark of Wittgenstein’s, I initiated a series of six international conferences – Dresden, Prague, Warsaw, Barcelona, Vienna and Zagreb – which I organized together with colleagues from across Europe. Three volumes have come out of it.
The documentation is kept here: programmes, abstracts, lists of talks, recordings and the resulting volumes.