This is the second volume of David Pears's acclaimed study of Wittgenstein's philosophy from the Notebooks and the Tractatus to Philosophical Investigations and other later writings. Dealing with writings from 1929 onward, Volume II provides close discussions of those doctrines and ideas that reveal the general overall structure of Wittgenstein's thought. Designed to fill the gap in the secondary literature between brief introductions and long commentaries, The False Prison relates the general to the particular within a clearly delineated framework, making Wittgenstein's difficult thought...

This is the first of two volumes which describe the development of Wittgenstein's philosophy from the Tracatus to his later writings. Part I of this volume is a survey of the whole of his work; Part II is a detailed examination of the central ideas for his early system. The second volume will cover later philosophy. The book fills a gap in the literature on Wittgenstein between brief introductions and detailed commentaries. Although necessarily selective, the doctrines and ideas chosen for detailed discussion are those which reveal the general structure of Wittgenstein's work. David Pears has...