Books about Wittgensteinian from Amazon.com

"The Evolution of the Private Language Argument" presents a continuous view of modern analytical philosophy by telling the history of one of its central strands. It is an in-depth history of this well known philosophical argument, the evolution of Wittgenstein's thoughts and its influence on analytical philosophy of mind and language.Nielsen looks at early discussions of the private language argument in the Vienna Circle and the influence of Wittgenstein's ideas and examines the relation between the early and later Wittgenstein on this subject. He discusses which influential versions of the private language argument have been presented in the fifty years since Philosophical Investigations was published and how they relate to Wittgenstein's thoughts, and considers how the role and the interpretation of the argument, and Wittgenstein's philosophy, changed along with changes in the conception of the nature of analytic philosophy..
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This book addresses key topics in social theory such as the basic structures of social life, the character of human activity, and the nature of individuality Drawing on the work of Wittgenstein, the author develops an account of social existence that argues that social practices are the fundamental phenomenon in social life. This approach offers new insight into the social formation of individuals, surpassing and critiquing the existing practice theories of Bourdieu, Giddens, Lyotard, and Oakeshott..
Price: $30.39 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This is an extended discussion of this timeless argument of faith and reason. In 1965 D Z Phillips published The Concept of Prayer, one of his first books, and the first time that the influence of Wittgenstein's thought in the philosophy of religion was truly exposed. Two years later, in 1967, Kai Nielsen published his famous article "Wittgensteinian Fideism" in the journal Philosophy. Their respective philosophical work has developed over the years, with Phillips becoming known as the leading proponent of Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion, (Wittgenstein's philosophy was that language had only limited meaning unless one understood the rules of the game in order to decipher the structure underlying language. D Z Phillips relates this to theology and religious faith.) and with Nielsen returning to renew his investigation of what he believes is the fideistic implications of this mode of philosophizing. (Nielsen's point being that by applying such reason to religious faith, one does away with the relevance of the faith. If God can be proven, why bother with a faith?) For Phillips the term "Wittgensteinian Fideism" (the belief that faith and reason are separate and faith can only be achieved by the denial of certain rational truths) does more harm than good, since for him it misrepresents and deflects us from the main logical issues concerning language and reality in Wittgenstein's work. For Nielsen, Wittgensteinian Fideism constitutes the most powerful contemporary challenge to secular naturalism. Wherever readers stand in the dispute, there is much to learn from the exchanges within it. These exchanges, from the world's two leading authorities, are further enhanced by a clarifying introduction from Bela Szabdos and two further critiques from Nancy Bauer and Stephen Mulhall within the text..
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Compatible homophobia, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination and violence in our society requires more than just focusing on the overt acts of prejudiced and abusive individuals. The very intelligibility of such acts, in fact, depends on a background of shared beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that together form the context of social practices in which these acts come to have the meaning they do. This book, inspired by Wittgenstein as well as feminist and critical race theory, shines a critical light on this background in order to show that we all share more responsibility for the persistence of oppressive social practices than we commonly suppose - or than traditional moral theories that connect responsibility just with the actions, rights and liberties of individuals would lead us to believe. First sketching a nonessentialist view of rationality, and emphasizing the role of power relations, Peg O'Connor then examines in subsequent chapters the relationship between a variety of "foreground" actions and "background" practices: burnings of African-American churches, hate speech, child sexual abuse, coming out as a lesbian or gay teenager, and racial integration of public and private spaces. These examples serve to illuminate when our "language games" reinforce oppression and when they allow possibilities for resistance. Attending to the background, O'Connor argues, can give us insight into ways of transforming the nature and meaning of foreground actions..
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In "Foundations of Arithmetic", Gottlob Frege contended that the difference between concepts and objects was absolute He meant that no object could be a concept and no concept an object. Benno Kerry disagreed; he contended that a concept could be an object, and that therefore the difference between concepts and objects was only relative. In this book, Jolley aims to understand the debate between Frege and Kerry. But Jolley's purpose is not so much to champion either side; rather, it is to utilize an understanding of the debate to shed light on the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein - and vice versa. Jolley not only sifts through the debate between Frege and Kerry, but also through subsequent versions of the debate in J. J. Valberg and Wilfred Sellars. Jolley's goal is to show that the central notion of "Philosophical Investigations", that of a 'conceptual investigation', is a legacy of the Frege/Kerry debate and also a contribution to it. Jolley concludes that the difference between concepts and objects is as absolute in its way in "Philosophical Investigations" as it was in "The Foundations of Arithmetic" and that recognizing the absoluteness of the difference in "Philosophical Investigations" provides a beginning for a 'resolute' reading of Wittgenstein's book..
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This digital document is an article from The Review of Metaphysics, published by Philosophy Education Society, Inc. on September 1, 1998. The length of the article is 790 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Social Practices: A Wittgensteinian Approach to Human Activity and the Social.(Review)
Author: Stephen Satris
Publication:The Review of Metaphysics (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1998
Publisher: Philosophy Education Society, Inc.
Volume: 52 Issue: 205 Page: 174(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale.
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This first of two volumes on the Greeks by Rush Rhees addresses the central philosophical question: In what sense does philosophy investigate reality? In answering this question Rhees brings the work of the Presocratics into close relation with contemporary philosophy. D.Z. Phillips' editorial commentary is particularly helpful in assisting the reader with their bearings as they approach the text and elucidating the developments in Rhees's thinking. How is the philosophical investigation of reality different from that of science and can it be said that science investigates aspects of reality, whereas philosophy investigates reality as such? In this first volume Rhees affirms that most of the Presocratics seemed to be seeking a science of being qua being, looking for an essence of reality that simply is. Rhees asks that if the existence of reality cannot be denied, then how can it be asserted either? Does it make sense to say that reality exists? If we speak of something existing, we speak of the conditions of its existence which are independent of the 'something' in question, so how can this be said about reality? What conditions can be other than reality itself? Rhees argues that whatever unity reality has it cannot be the unity of a thing. Rhees brings out how individual Presocratics are aware of difficulties in their predecessors, only to fall prey to new difficulties of their own. In struggling with these Rhees suggests that what is philosophically deep in their questionings can be found in discussing the relation of discourse and reality. Does what we say to each other depend on an underlying logic which determines what can and cannot be said, or on a system of unchanging meanings; or is the distinction between sense and nonsense rooted in our actual ways of thinking and acting? In discussing these Wittgensteinian themes, Rhees is not simply elucidating the Presocratics, but is in dialogue with them..
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Although universally recognized as one of the greatest of modern philosophers, Wittgenstein's work in aesthetics has been unjustly neglected. This book is devoted to Wittgenstein's aesthetics, exploring the themes developed by Wittgenstein in his own writing on aesthetics as well as the implications of Wittgenstein's wider philosophical views for understanding central issues in aesthetics. Drawing together original contributions from leading international scholars, the book should be an important addition to studies of Wittgenstein's thought, but its discussion of issues in literature, music and performing art, and criticism will also be of interest to many students of literary and cultural studies. Exploring three key themes - the capacity of the arts to illuminate our lives; the nature of the particular responses involved in understanding and appreciating works of art; the role of theory and principle in artistic and critical practice - the contributors address issues raised by contemporary philosophers of art, and seek to make connections between Wittgenstein's work and that of other significant philosophies of art in the Western tradition. Displaying the best practice of modern philosophical writing - clarity, cogency, respect for but not blind obedience to common sense, argument illustrated with detailed examples, rejection of speculation and pretension - this book demonstrates how philosophy can make a valuable contribution to understanding the arts..
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