Wittgenstein: An Introduction

by Joachim Schulte, William H. Brenner (Translation), John F. Holley (Translation)

Joachim Schulte's introduction provides a distinctive and masterful account of the full range of Wittgenstein's thought. It is concise but not compressed, substantive but not overloaded with developmental or technical detail, informed by the latest scholarship but not pedantic.

Genres: Philosophy

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Toby]

I found the biography in the first few chapters immensely compelling. Wittgenstein was no happy academic, satisfied to toil away to meet publication deadlines and present at conferences. He was at the ground floor of a revolution in philosophy and is one of the first philosophers who confronted what is recognizable to us as academia. It always struck me that he fucking hated both. And while Kenny's book gives a British perspective on what is interesting in the Tractatus (a dry one), it takes a German to educate English-speaking audiences about what is really happening in that book (to help readers like me to appreciate the depth to that which cannot be said but only ever shown). Literalists like Kenny have no idea about the magical elements Wittgenstein was at pains to show, negatively, in the Tractatus. Schulte does a fantastic job of improving in almost every respect on that brilliant, limited book by Kenny. To my knowledge this is one of the best philosophical biographies I have ever read.

[Eric Tao · Rating 3 out of 5]

Immensely confusing, but I just about expected that, having no real prior knowledge about Wittgenstein. The parts that I did understand though, I thought were fascinating, and I definitely felt encouraged by the book to learn more about it.

[Cassidy Brinn]

Clear and energetic

I. Introduction of life, personality, work. Klosterneuburg and Norway and the Bros Karamazov and how he 'lectured' and the Russian teacher's claim that she could detect his former students years later from certain mannerisms.

II: Tractatus. Doesn't get too deep into logical specifics, rather focuses on the characterization of the nature of the world and logical constants. They show themselves, but are not expressible through language as they don't represent anything. No things. Boundaries. (7)

III. Links. Talks about ethics, mythology. Grammar concept develops, the insecurity of math is exposed. Demand for overviewableness, links, Schulte smiling!

IV Language games. Just as he was introduced in Language 101, except went deeper into public flexibility of rules and paradigms.

V Criteria. Just as he was introduced in Self-Consciousness and Body-Consciousness. (toothaches) Long bit on impossibility of private languages, followed by a less clear discussion on aspects (ghost!!!) which I like but don't all swallow.

VI Certainty. This is the stuff that rocks my boat.

[Mario Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly good introduction to the basic themes present in Wittgenstein's philosophy. As is expected of an introductory text, the analysis present offers just enough to peek the interest of unfamiliar readers without becoming altogether too cumbersome. One minor downfall (although, I really must stress the minor aspect) is that the presentation, at times, offers overviews which are, to be fair, somewhat contentious, without properly alluding to their uncertain position among scholars of Wittgenstein. Again, this is a minor critique in that the book is, after all, primarily serving as an introduction to Wittgenstein, and not an exegetical text.