Wittgenstein's Notes on Logic

by Michael Potter

Overview

Wittgenstein's philosophical career began in 1911 when he went to Cambridge to work with Russell. He compiled the Notes on Logic two years later as a kind of summary of the work he had done so far. Russell thought that they were 'as good as anything that has ever been done in logic', but he had Wittgenstein himself to explain them to him. Without the benefit of Wittgenstein's explanations, most later scholars have preferred to treat the Notes solely as an interpretative aid in understanding the Tractatus (which draws on them for material), rather than as a philosophical work in their own right.

Michael Potter unequivocally demonstrates the philosophical and historical importance of the Notes for the first time. By teasing out the meaning of key passages, he shows how many of the most important insights in the Tractatus they contain. He discusses in detail how Wittgenstein arrived at these insights by thinking through ideas he obtained from Russell and Frege. And he uses a challenging blend of biography and philosophy to illuminate the methods Wittgenstein used in his work.

The book features the complete text of the Notes in a critical edition, with a detailed discussion of the circumstances in which they were compiled, leading to a new understanding of how they should be read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199215836
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/15/2009
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Michael Potter is Reader in the Philosophy of Mathematics at Cambridge University. He is the author of Sets, Reason's Nearest Kin, Set Theory and its Philosophy, and Mathematical Knowledge (edited with Mary Leng and Alexander Paseau).

Table of Contents

Introduction1. Finding a Problem2. First Steps3. Matter4. Analysis5. The Fundamental Thought6. The Symbolic Turn7. Simplicity8. Unity9. Fregean Propositions10. Assertion11. Complex and Fact12. Forms13. Russell's Theory of Judgment14. Meaning15. Metaphysics16. Sense17. Truth-Functions18. Truth-Operations19. Molecular Propositions20. Generality21. Resolving the Paradoxes22. Typical Ambiguity23. Identity24. Sign and Symbol25. Wittgenstein's Theory of Judgment26. The Picture Theory27. Tractarian Objects28. Philosophy29. ThemesHistory of the TextThe Notes on LogicBibliography