About this title: Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations presents his own distillation of two decades of intense work on the philosophies of mind, language and meaning. When first published in 1953, it immediately entered the center of philosophical debate, and achieved a classic status it has retained ever since. This revised German-English edition is published on the fiftieth anniversary of Wittgenstein's death. It incorporates final revisions by G. E. M. Anscombe (1919 - 2001) to her original English translation. No distribution rights for this book is available outside the USA and North America.
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Description: Very good in good dust jacket. good condition clean pages, dust cover show some wear, fast shipping deluivery with confirmation number. Text in English, German. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 464 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. like new. clean text, tight binding, minor shelf wear to covers/corners, nice reading copy, help support independent booksellers! Text in English, German. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 464 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: Third Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, UK
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780631231271ISBN:0631231277
Description: As New in None Issued jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. This is a New and Unread copy of the 50th Anniversary Edition (Third Edition). A bilingual edition with revised English translation. read more
Description: Near Fine with no dust jacket; Wiley; 2001; Hardcover. 0631231277. German and English are on facing pages. Sixth printing, 2005.; 8vo 8"-9" tall; 246 pp. read more
Description: Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 246pp. Text in German and English. Pages a little grubby. Page edges stained. Pictorial card covers, creased and worn at edges. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780631231271ISBN:0631231277
Description: New. --All NEW items are exactly as provided by the publisher. All USED items are in Good condition or better, and copies may contain store stickers, highlighting, etc from normal use by previous owner(s). One-time use supplements (e.g., access codes, tear-out flash cards, reference cards, etc) provided with new copies are NOT guaranteed. --Professional booksellers: inquiries always welcome. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Date Published: 1991-01-15
ISBN-13:9780631231271ISBN:0631231277
Description: Good. Excellent customer service. May ship from alternate location depending on your zip code and availability. Satisfaction guaranteed! ! read more
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. as new hardcover in as new dj; 3rd edition with revisions, new pagination. Text in English, German. Glued binding. Hardcover. 246 p. read more
Description: Good. 8vo. Cloth Hardcover, 1953. First Translated Edition, First Published in 1953. The dust jacket is in fair condition, though tanned and chipped along the edges and on the spine, clipped front flap. 232 double pages, German-English parallel text--German on the left page & English on the right page--blue cloth cover in very good condition with gilt lettering on the spine. The textblock is tight and square, and the pages are bright, clean and intact. Very few markings, in pencil on the ... read more
"I read this for the second time two weeks ago, and I have been marinating in it since. Wittgenstein is one of those thinkers that you must chew very very slowly.
I fell in love with Wittgenstein in passing - it was purely accidental. He was mentioned as a mere footnote in a theology course, in a conversation about semiotics, Augustine, doctrine and Lindbeck. I wanted nothing to do with Lindbeck that particular day, so I decided to check out this Wittgenstein character. Having motive and opportunity to do so, I followed the endnote like a key on a map and there in the back was rewarded for my efforts, for I found a quote which is one of his most well-known and most oft-cited. What Wittgenstein said which first alighted my heart was this:
What can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence.
This was relevant to the conversation that day in my class and also is relevant in my field of study (theology) especially, for we would-be theologians are very often in need of a reminder that God, while majestic beyond our comprehension, is preserved best when spoken of not ad nauseum but rather apophatically.
Wittgenstein is often said to be difficult, and in a way he is, because he is so straightforward, but he is mostly challenging because he pokes at all of the deposits that we have allowed to build up on the words which we rely on most heavily, which we should perhaps re-examine. Are they correct? Is there a correlation between what we say and what we intend to relate?
What is particularly frustrating to many about Philosophical Investigations is that Wittgenstein seems to have contradicted a great many things he said in the Tractatus. I don't necessarily see these as outright contradictions at all. It is not uncommon to see modification and change through one's opinion as they write, first and foremost. Personally I don't consider that a weakness but a strength. Secondly, that this was put together posthumously should raise a flag that the redactor played a role here in that appearance of refutal to previous statements.
The most interesting concept he puts forth is that of the Beetle-in-the-Box, bringing into question the notion of private language, something that is still debated today: is there such a thing or no?
This book is a chore. If you get through it and you do not think so, do it again; you didn't do it right. The same is true for the Tractatus. But like any worthwhile endeavor I cannot recommend it enough."
"While this book has no doubt been vastly influential in twentieth century philosophy, I am far less enamored with it today than I was studying the Philosophy of Language and Science twenty years ago in graduate school. Thus while I am extremely grateful to this treatise in carefully extrapolating Logical Positivism, at least his own version, the conclusions just didn't stand up to scrutiny all that long. However, I don't mean to diminish this books import by suggesting that many of its conclusions are wanting. Rather, one must read this in order to understand WHY certain issues are posed the way they are... and what pitfalls await those who understand the problems as the Positivists explained them. While Logical Atomism was covered in little more than a month or so with my Oxford educated very English professor (he looked very much like a reserved Simon Baker from The Mentalist,) we were expected to read both Russell and Wittgenstein thoroughly. He made us defend each position and then turned around on the final and asked us to critique them: it was a mind twister but it was one of those things which was valuable beyond measure. I have since come to enjoy W's Tractatus much more than the Investigations, (the former still resting but a few feet away on my office shelf,) but this is only for its poetic development. Perhaps on reflection, maybe I just feel sorry for Atomism after Gödel got through with it. The Investigations, however, continues to be a seminal work which, if it did not state the issues of philosophy as clearly as it ought, it certainly is a very clear and careful examination of mid 20th century thought and perhaps remains the acme for philosophy of its kind. One could do much worse with philosophy than to read this book carefully and digest its meaning."
"If your mind has been warped by philosophy, this is a life-changing book. At least it's more likely to cure you than psychotherapy...and cheaper. Watch out for lions and beetles and duck-rabbits (oh my!)."
"This is, of course, one of the great books of the 20th century, and it blew my head away when I first read it. However, I have since come to mistrust its conclusions. The central task of language is communication. The central question in linguistics is "How is it possible for one person to understand another?" It is actually possible for people from quite different societies to come to understand each other. How is this possible? I do not think Wittgenstein gives a satisfactory answer to this question.
Words seem to have a fairly narrow range of core meanings. So "elephant" generally refers to a particular kind of large grey animal. But the word "elephant" has other meanings that are not so close to the core meaning - so there are wooden elephants, baby elephants, white elephants. This is a long way, however, from saying that the meaning of words is determined by context or that the meaning of the word is determined by "family resemblances".
This applies to "games" too. Nearly all "games" consist of activities where one or more individuals try to overcome unnecessary problems (Suits). Some "games", however, do not comply with this narrow definition, but this last point does not require anybody to draw wildly significant philosophical conclusions."
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