O. K. Bouwsma, one of America's foremost Wittgensteinians, was also an extraordinarily dedicated and effective teacher. The present collection, assembled posthumously from his papers, includes twelve essays, all but one previously unpublishedand all characterized by the humor, common sense, and wisdom that marked his classroom lectures.

Ranging in subject matter from topics in Wittgenstein to Descartes to aesthetics, the pieces all show the influence of Wittgenstein. Some of the questions they raise deal with the traditional and historical background of twentieth-century philosophy "Am I...

O. K. Bouwsma was, with J. L. Austin and J. O. Wisdom, the best known of the -Ordinary Language- philosophers of the mid-twentieth century. In 1950, he initiated the prestigious John Locke Lectures at Oxford as a representative of that school of philosophers, who developed the implications of Wittgenstein s later philosophy. Bouwsma, a friend of Wittgenstein and oriented by the latter s work, grasped its implications for his own work. Already possessing a keen sensitivity to ordinary usages, Bouwsma developed a unique and humorous style aimed at philosophy s seemingly intractable problems....