Wittgenstein's Place in Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy

This text provides a unique and compelling account of Wittgenstein's impact upon twentieth century analytic philosophy, from its inception to its subsequent decline.

Preface ix Acknowledgements xii List of Abbreviations xiv Chapter 1 The Background 1 1 The origins of analytic philosophy 1 2 The problem-setting context of the Tractatus 12 Chapter 2 The Achievement of the Tractatus 22 1 Unquestioned legacy 22 2 Criticisms of Frege and Russell 26 3 The metaphysical picture of the relation of thought, language and reality 29 4 The positive account of the propositions of logic 32 5 The critique of metaphysics and the conception of future philosophy as analysis 35 Chapter 3 The Impact of the Tractatus: The Vienna Circle 39 1 The Vienna Circle 39 2 Philosophy, analysis, and the scientific world-view 42 3 The demolition of metaphysics 44 4 Necessary propositions, conventionalism and consistent empiricism 45 5 The principle of verification 50 6 The unity of science 59 Chapter 4 The Inter-war Years: Cambridge and Oxford 67 1 Cambridge between the wars 67 2 Wittgenstein in Cambridge 76 3 Oxford between the wars 87 Chapter 5 The Achievement of the Investigations 97 1 The hedgehog and the fox 97 2 The repudiation of analysis 103 3 The nature of philosophy 110 4 Metaphysics 117 5 Philosophy of language and the unity of the Investigations 123 6 Philosophical psychology 130 Chapter 6 Wittgenstein’s Impact upon Post-war Analytic Philosophy 137 1 Publications and pupils 138 2 Philosophy at Oxford, 1945-70 148 3 Wittgenstein and post-war philosophy at Oxford 162 Chapter 7 Post-positivism in the United States and Quine’s Apostasy 183 1 The logical positivists in America 183 2 Quine and Wittgenstein: similarity amidst differences 189 3 Quine and logical empiricism: the end of analytic philosophy? 193 4 Quine’s progress 196 5 Quine and Wittgenstein: differences beneath similarities 207 Chapter 8 The decline of Analytic Philosophy 228 1 The critical backlash 228 2 Criticisms of Wittgenstein 239 3 The aftermath 264 Notes 274 Index 334