Ludwig Wittgenstein

by David Pears

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670019100
• ISBN13: 9780670019106
• Release Date: October 1970
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A very useful introduction

My review is of the first edition of this book (pub. 1971). I am not sure how the second edition differs from the first. Pears is to be commended for what strikes me as a perspicuous treatment of the early Wittgenstein (Tractatus). Having yet to read the Tractatus, itself, I can only assume that in Pears Wittgenstein has a faithful exponent. In regard to the later Wittgenstein (Philosophical Investigations, etc.), Pears' treatment is considerably less focused, and concomittantly more difficult to follow. But, then, I gather the same may be said for Wittgenstein, whose preferred method -- especially in his later writings -- was to paint his ideas with a brush, as it were, rather than systematically develop them. So, it must be a daunting challenge for any chronicler or interpreter of Wittgenstein's thought to pin it down, let alone convey it in its substance to a novice readership. That Pears has a tougher time of achieving this objective in connection with the later Wittgenstein does not strike me as reflecting poorly on Pears. To the extent he intends to shed light on a bafflingly obscure philosopher, I think he does so admirably. Having read his brief treatment, I am now quite looking forward to reading through the Tractatus, and I feel well-equipped to undertake the challenge. Pears has prepared me a little less well, I think, though perhaps as well as anyone can, to delve into Wittgenstein's later works. But here, too, he has greatly spurred my interest in doing so. I would highly recommend this little book.