Running Head The World is all that is the case http//www.humanities-ebooks.co.uk Philosophy Insights General Editor: Mark Addis Wittgenstein Mark Jago The World is all that is the case For advice on use of this ebook please scroll to page 2
Publication Data Mark Jago, 2007 The Author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by Humanities-Ebooks.co.uk Tirril Hall, Tirril, Penrith CA10 2JE Reading and Listening Options * To use the navigation tools, the search facility, and other features of the Adobe toolbar, this Ebook should be read in default view. * To navigate through the contents use the hyperlinked Bookmarks at the left of the screen. * To search, expand the search column at the right of the screen or click on the binocular symbol in the toolbar. * For ease of reading, use <CTRL+L> to enlarge the page to full screen * Use <Esc> to return to the full menu. * Hyperlinks (if any) appear in Blue Underlined Text. Licence and permissions This book is licensed for a particular computer or computers. The file itself may be copied, but the copy will not open until the new user obtains a licence from the Humanities-Ebooks website in the usual manner. The original purchaser may license the same work for a second computer by applying to support@humanities-ebooks.co.uk with proof of purchase. Permissions: it is permissible to print sections of the book (in draft mode) for your own use, but not to copy and paste text. ISBN 978-1-84760-014-1
Wittgenstein Mark Jago Bibliographical Entry: Jago, Mark. Wittgenstein. Philosophy Insights. Tirril: Humanities-Ebooks, 2007
A Note on the Author Mark Jago is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Nottingham, UK and a Junior Research Associate in the Research Group on the Philosophy of Information at the University of Oxford. He has published on logic, belief, fiction and the philosophy of information. His main interests are in meaning, belief and truth and how these concepts might link together. He favours a broadly Wittgensteinian approach to philosophy, particularly when thinking about meaning and other minds. See also the titles on formal logic and the philosophy of mathematics in the Philosophy Insights series. Personal website: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/philsoophy/staff/mark-jago.htm.
Contents 1 The Tractatus 12 1.1 Introduction............................... 12 1.2 Metaphysics in the Tractatus...................... 13 1.3 Objects in the Tractatus......................... 16 1.4 Substance and Possibility........................ 17 1.5 Truth................................... 19 1.6 Discussion Points............................ 20 2 The Picture Theory 22 2.1 Introduction............................... 22 2.2 Elementary Propositions........................ 25 2.3 Empiricist Interpretation of the Tractatus................ 28 2.4 Discussion Points............................ 30 3 Meaning and Nonsense 31 3.1 Meaning................................. 31 3.2 Understanding.............................. 32 3.3 The Limits of Sense........................... 33 3.4 The Purpose of Philosophy....................... 37 3.5 Discussion Points............................ 40 4 Necessity 42 4.1 Introduction............................... 42 4.2 Necessity in the Tractatus........................ 43 4.3 Towards the Later Philosophy..................... 47 4.4 Discussion Points............................ 48 5 Meaning and Use 50 5.1 Introduction............................... 50 5.2 The Augustinian View.......................... 50 5.3 Criticism of the Augustinian View................... 52 5.4 Family Resemblance and Language Games.............. 55
Philosophy Insights: Wittgenstein 6 5.5 Discussion Points............................ 58 6 Sensations and Private Language 59 6.1 Introduction............................... 59 6.2 The Cartesian Model and Private Language.............. 59 6.3 The Private Language Argument.................... 60 6.4 Sensations................................ 64 6.5 Discussion Points............................ 68 7 Following a Rule 69 7.1 Meaning and Rule-Following...................... 69 7.2 Wittgenstein s Response........................ 72 7.3 Kripke s Sceptical Interpretation.................... 74 7.4 Necessity................................ 75 7.5 Discussion Points............................ 76
Introduction About this Book This is an introductory text on one of the greatest Twentieth Century thinkers, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 1951). I could not hope to give a full account of the breadth and inventiveness of Wittgenstein s thought. Although he published only one book in his lifetime, he produced a huge number of notebooks and dictated notes which have subsequently been published. At least two of his books are classics of twentieth century philosophy: the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922) and the Philosophical Investigations (1953). Both books have proved enormously influential in contemporary analytic philosophy. It is these two books that I shall focus on, as they represent the key ideas of both the early (Tractatus-era) and the later (Philosophical Investigations-era) Wittgenstein. I shall primarily be concerned with giving an exposition of some of the key ideas in Wittgenstein s thought. In choosing what to cover and what to leave out, I opted for those topics that can best be amalgamated into a coherent whole and that best reflect our interests, as analytic philosophers. As a result, the theme of meaning is to the fore, whereas Wittgenstein s mysticism in the Tractatus and much of his thinking on psychology in the Investigations is passed over. Although there is much in Wittgenstein s thought that is open to debate, my aim has been to give a clear presentation of his ideas rather than an argument for or against them. I have included pointers to the relevant literature for the reader who wishes to investigate the arguments further. Each chapter ends with several discussion points which should be considered; often, these points link Wittgenstein s thoughts to that of other philosophers and to the contemporary debate. Where appropriate, there are pointers to further reading. Background to Wittgenstein s Philosophy Wittgenstein began his philosophical career at Cambridge in 1912, at a time when British philosophy was still very much under the influence of Hegalian Idealism. Idealism s advocates in nineteenth century Britain included T. H. Green (1836 1882),