Rails to Infinity: Essays on Themes from Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations [Hardcover]

Crispin Wright (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 067400504X | ISBN-13: 978-0674005044 | Publication Date: September 28, 2001

This volume, published on the fiftieth anniversary of Wittgenstein's death, brings together thirteen of Crispin Wright's most influential essays on Wittgenstein's later philosophies of language and mind, many hard to obtain, including the first publication of his Whitehead Lectures given at Harvard in 1996.

Organized into four groups, the essays focus on issues about following a rule and the objectivity of meaning; on Saul Kripke's contribution to the interpretation of Wittgenstein; on privacy and self-knowledge; and on aspects of Wittgenstein's philosophy of mathematics. Wright uses the cutting edge of Wittgenstein's thought to expose and undermine the common assumptions in platonistic views of mathematical and logical objectivity and Cartesian ideas about self-knowledge. The great question remains: How to react to the demise of these assumptions? In response, the essays develop a concerted, evolving approach to the possibilities--and limitations--of constructive philosophies of mathematics and mind. Their collection constitutes a major statement by one of Britain's most important philosophers--and will provide an indispensable tool both for students of Wittgenstein and for scholars working more generally in the metaphysics of mind and language.

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About the Author

Crispin Wright is Leverhulme Research Professor and Bishop Wardlaw Professor at the University of St. Andrews and is Global Distinguished Professor at New York University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (September 28, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067400504X
• ISBN-13: 978-0674005044
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,082,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent Collection, September 10, 2002

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This review is from: Rails to Infinity: Essays on Themes from Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations (Hardcover)

Perhaps wait for the paperback edition. Most of the articles here have been previously published. The Wittgensteinian dialogue with McDowell is here. Some unpublished work on self-knowledge. Overall, this is not the first book I'd recommend for someone wanting to learn Wittgenstein or how to write clear philosophical prose. His prose is about one rung up from Peacocke. Not even as clear as the occasional obscurities of McDowell. I'd only recommend this text for Wittgenstein die-hards.