Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: An Attempt at a Critical Rationalist Appraisal

ISBN-13: 9783030001162 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 295 str.

Joseph Agassi

Spis treści

Preface

Chapter 1. Background

1.1. The Tragedy of Young Wittgenstein

1.2. Metaphysics Needs No Defense

1.3. The Analytic School and Politics

1.4. Analysis; Paradoxes of Analysis

1.5. Grammatical Errors

Chapter 2. A History of Anti-Metaphysics

2.1. The Doctrine of Prejudice

2.2. Radicalism

2.3. The Poverty of the Analytic Scholarship

2.4. The Rise of Current Anti-Metaphysics

Chapter 3. The waning of essentialism

3.1. The Background to Anti-Metaphysics

3.2. Anti-Essentialism

3.3. Existential Import

3.4. On Stilted Language

3.5. Reinterpretation in Logic and in Science

Chapter 4. Logic and Mathematics

4.1. Words, Statements and Inferences

4.2. The Universe of Discourse

4.3. The Place of Kant in the Story

4.4. Logic, Mathematics and Meaning

Chapter 5. Logic and Language

5.1. Proper Form versus Truth-value

5.2. Laws of Thought versus Laws of language

5.3. Between Logic and Psychology

Chapter 6. Frege

6.1. Anti-Essentialism Again

6.2. What is a Calculus?

6.3. The Demise of Transcendental Logic

Chapter 7. Russell

7.1. The Deduction Theorem

7.2. On Denoting

7.3. The Puzzle

7.4. Russell and Young Wittgenstein

Chapter 8. Young Wittgenstein

8.1. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

8.2 Russellian Background

8.3. Logical Atomism

8.4. The Significant Meaningless

Chapter 9. Interim period: Carnap versus Popper

9.1. Background again

9.2. The Interim Period

9.3. Engelmann

9.4. Ideal Language

9.5. Wittgenstein and Carnap

Chapter 10. Ordinary Language Analysis

10.1. Philosophical Investigations: Background

10.2. Young and Mature Wittgenstein

10.3. Signposts in Philosophical Investigations

10.4. The Aftermath

Chapter 11. The Message of Philosophical Investigations

11.1. Analysis versus Metaphysics

11.2. Analysis sans Anti-metaphysics

11.3. Anti-Essentialism again

11.4. Wittgenstein’s Heritage

Appendix to Lecture 11

Chapter 12. Analysis of Analysis

12.1. Analysis Defended

12.2. The Limits of Language

12.3. Wittgenstein’s Analytic Approach

Chapter 13. Conclusion: The Place of Wittgenstein

13.1. Things to Avoid

13.2. Wittgenstein’s Self-appraisal

13.3. Wittgenstein as a Moralist

13.4. The Task of Philosophers

13.5. The Public Impact of Wittgenstein’s Investigations

13.6. Conclusion

References

Index of Names

Blurb

This book collects 13 papers that explore Wittgenstein's philosophy throughout the different stages of his career. The author writes from the viewpoint of critical rationalism. The tone of his analysis is friendly and appreciative yet critical.

Of these papers, seven are on the background to the philosophy of Wittgenstein. Five papers examine different aspects of it: one on the philosophy of young Wittgenstein, one on his transitional period, and the final three on the philosophy of mature Wittgenstein, chiefly his Philosophical Investigations. The last of these papers, which serves as the concluding chapter, concerns the analytical school of philosophy that grew chiefly under its influence.

Wittgenstein’s posthumous Philosophical Investigations ignores formal languages while retaining the view of metaphysics as meaningless -- declaring that all languages are metaphysics-free. It was very popular in the middle of the twentieth century. Now it is passé. Wittgenstein had hoped to dissolve all philosophical disputes, yet he generated a new kind of dispute. His claim to have improved the philosophy of life is awkward just because he prevented philosophical discussion from the ability to achieve that: he cut the branch on which he was sitting. This, according to the author, is the most serious critique of Wittgenstein.