Wittgenstein on Mind and Language

Abstract Drawing on 10 years of research on the unpublished Wittgenstein papers, this book investigates Wittgenstein’s early conception of the nature of representation, and how his later revision and criticism of that work led to a radically different way of looking at mind and language. The book casts new light on the Tractatus and Philosophical Investigations, and traces the development of a number of central themes in Wittgenstein’s philosophy. These include his conception of philosophical method, logical atomism and the picture theory of meaning, the nature of representation and the limits of language, the application of language to experience, his treatment of practice and private language, and what he called the “flow of life”. It also explains how the unpublished manuscripts and typescripts were put together, and why they often provide better evidence of the development of his ideas than can be found in his published writing. The book argues that Wittgenstein’s views are often much more simple (and more radical) than we have been led to believe. It provides an overview of the development of Wittgenstein’s thought and brings to light aspects of his philosophy that have been almost universally neglected.