Wittgenstein

Arguments of the Philosophers

by Robert J. Fogelin

Professor Fogelin has provided an authoritative critical evaluation of both the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations , making these key texts accessible to the general reader.

Genres: Philosophy

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Joseph Yue]

Everyone knows that clarity is not Wittgenstein's strength. Fogelin in this exegesis has done as much as he could to elucidate the obscure passages, although he still fails sometimes because some passages simply do not admit an adequately clear interpretation. Most importantly, this volume is not a line-by-line commentary on the Tractatus and the PI, but rather a systematic reconstruction thereof. There are also bonus contents on Wittgenstein's lesser discussed texts, including the one on philosophy of mathematics. The last chapter of this work is particularly worth reading for anyone who wants to truly understand the late Wittgenstein, for it situates him in the context of history of philosophy and explains why his is a unique philosophy that has no intellectual ancestor. Against this background, one can finally see just how utterly original Wittgenstein's thoughts are.

[Jon Højlund Arnfred]

Fogelin's book helped me a lot in breaking down the argumentation especially in the early work of Wittgenstein.