WITTGENSTEIN (Ludwig).
Philosophical Investigations.
One of the most important works of twentieth century philosophy.
One of the most important works of twentieth century philosophy, Philosophical Investigations is widely held to be a refutation of large parts of Wittgenstein’s earlier book Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921), the only of his philosophical works to published during his lifetime. Such a reformulation was not without precedent; indeed as early as 1931, Wittgenstein had referred to his early work as ‘dogmatic’ (‘On Dogmatism’, in Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle, p. 182). In Investigations, Wittgenstein’s interest moved towards the connection between rule-following and language:’[i]f language is to be a means of communication there must be agreement not only in definition but also (as queer as this may sound) in judgement’ (p. 88e).
Published posthumously, Philosophical Investigations is comprised of two parts. Part I, the Preface to which is dated January 1945, was ready for printing in 1946, but was rescinded from the publisher by Wittgenstein. Part II was added following Wittgenstein’s death by the editors, G. E. M. Anscombe and Rush Rhees, trustees of his “Nachlass”.
