Wittgenstein's Tractatus History and Interpretation

by Sullivan, Peter; Potter, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780199665785
• ISBN10: 0199665788
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-05-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This volume of newly written chapters on the history and interpretation of Wittgenstein's Tractatus represents a significant step beyond the polemical debate between broad interpretive approaches that has recently characterized the field. It makes a strong case that close investigation, both biographical and textual, into the composition of the Tractatus, and into the various influences on it, still has much to yield in revealing the complexityand fertility of Wittgenstein's early thought. The themes explored range across the breadth of Wittgenstein's book, and include his accounts of ethics and aesthetics, as well as issues in metaphysics and the philosophy of mind, and aspects of the logical framework of his account of representation. By approachingWittgenstein's thought through the various first-level issues that give rise to it, rather than from entrenched schematic positions, the contributors demonstrate the possibility of a more inclusive, constructive and fruitful mode of engagement with Wittgenstein's text and with each other.

Author Biography

Peter Sullivan is a Professor at the University of Stirling where he has taught since 1993. The primary focus of his published work has been on the founding figures of analytic philosophy: Frege, Russell, the early Wittgenstein, and Ramsey.

Michael Potter, University Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Cambridge, and Fellow, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge . He is the author of Sets (OUP, 1990), Reason's Nearest Kin (OUP, 2000), Set Theory and its Philosophy (OUP, 2004), and Mathematical Knowledge (edited with Mary Leng and Alexander Paseau, OUP, 2007).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction, Michael Potter and Peter Sullivan
2. Wittgenstein's pre-Tractatus manuscripts: a new appraisal, Michael Potter
3. Why does Wittgenstein say that ethics and aesthetics are one and the same?, Hanne Appelqvist
4. Kierkegaard and the Tractatus, Genia Schonbaumsfeld
5. What is Frege's 'concept horse problem'?, Ian Proops
6. Tractatus 5.4611: 'Signs for logical operations are punctuation marks', Peter Milne
7. Logical segmentation and generality in Wittgenstein's Tractatus, Thomas Ricketts
8. Does the Tractatus contain a private language argument?, William Child
9. Logic and solipsism, James Levine
10. Was the author of the Tractatus a transcendental idealist?, A. W. Moore
11. Idealism in Wittgenstein: a further reply to Moore, Peter Sullivan
Index