Wittgenstein and the Possibility of Discourse - Hardcover

Rhees, Rush

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521622611 ISBN 13: 9780521622615

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Four years after the publication of Wittgenstein's Investigations, Rush Rhees began writing critical reflections on the masterpiece he had helped to edit. In this edited collection of his previously unpublished writings, Rhees argues, contra Wittgenstein, that although language lacks the unity of a calculus it is not simply a family of language games. The unity of language is found in its dialogical character. It is in this context that we say something, and grow in understanding: notions not captured in Wittgenstein's emphasis on language games, following rules, and using language. Rhees develops Wittgenstein's notion that to imagine a language is to image a form of life, without suggesting that we are all engaged in an all-inclusive conversation. The result is not only a major contribution to Wittgenstein scholarship, but an original discussion of central philosophical questions concerning the possibility of discourse.

About this title

Book Description

This edited collection of Rush Rhees's previously unpublished writings presents his critical reflections on Wittgenstein's Investigations, the masterpiece he had helped to edit. They are not only a major contribution to Wittgenstein scholarship, but an original discussion of central philosophical questions concerning the possibility of discourse.

From the Back Cover

Four years after the publication of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, Rush Rhees, one of Wittgenstein’s literary executors and closest friends, began writing reflections on the masterpiece he had helped to edit. In this collection of his previously unpublished writings, Rhees offers an original critique of Wittgenstein’s analogy between language and games. The volume constitutes a major contribution not only to Wittgenstein scholarship, but also to philosophical debates about the possibility of discourse, and to why conversation is central to that possibility.

For the second edition, D.Z. Phillips has inserted as a preface Rhees’ article, ‘The Fundamental Problems of Philosophy’, first published in 1994. This paper gives a clear picture of Rhees’ view of the distinctive nature of philosophical questions and of the character shown in a deep pursuit of them. Secondly, Phillips has included as an additional appendix, some of Rhees’ reflections on Wittgenstein, his teacher. The book’s index has also been enhanced.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0521622611
• ISBN 13: 9780521622615
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 315
• Editor: Phillips D. Z.