Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: Critical Essays

by Meredith Williams

Overview

Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations is one of the great works of 20th Century philosophy, destined to join the philosophical canon. Like all great works of philosophy, it poses new problems, while creating new forms of argument and persuasion. But unlike most contemporary philosophy texts, it is not structured by chapter and section headings, but rather by numbered passages — evidence of Wittgenstein's distinctive style and profound originality. This anthology draws together in one volume several recent essays that help to make his problems and arguments more accessible. The essays are grouped into four sections that roughly correspond to the development that one finds in the Investigations. These sections are: reference and meaning; rules and their application; the interiority of mind, and the alleged uses of private languages; and necessity and grammar. Both readers who are new to the Investigations as well as those who are familiar with Wittgenstein's work should find these essays illuminating and engaging.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742541900
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/01/2006
Series:	Critical Essays on the Classics Series
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	12.12(w) x 9.43(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Meredith Williams is professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and is the author of Wittgenstein, Mind and Meaning: Toward a Social Conception of the Mind (Routledge, 1998). She has published numerous articles and has been invited to speak at several conferences on Wittgenstein and philosophy of language.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     vii
Abbreviations     ix
Introduction     1
I Want You to Bring Me a Slab   Warren D. Goldfarb     17
Language-Games in Wittgenstein's Later Thought   Merrill B. Hintikka   Jaakko Hintikka     33
Blind Obedience: Rules, Community, and the Individual   Meredith Williams     61
Wittgenstein on Following a Rule   John McDowell     93
Verification Principle and the Private Language Argument   Anthony Kenny     131
Wittgenstein's Later Philosophy of Mind: Sensation, Privacy, and Intention   Crispin Wright     155
Metaphysics as the Shadow of Grammar   P.M. S. Hacker     177
Leaving the World Alone   Jonathan Lear     209
Index     231
About the Editor and Contributors     237

Editorial Reviews

An excellent collection of classic papers on key topics in the Investigations that approach the text from a wide range of perspectives.

David G. Stern

An excellent collection of classic papers on key topics in the Investigations that approach the text from a wide range of perspectives.--David G. Stern, University of Iowa

Williams has brought together a number of classic essays that anyone interested in Wittgenstein's Investigations needs to be familiar with.--Alice Crary, Chair of Philosophy, New School for Social Research

From the Publisher

An excellent collection of classic papers on key topics in the Investigations that approach the text from a wide range of perspectives.

David Stern

Williams has brought together a number of classic essays that anyone interested in Wittgenstein's Investigations needs to be familiar with.

Alice Crary