Wittgenstein: Meaning and Mind: Meaning and Mind, Volume 3 of an Analytical Commentary on the Philosophical Investigations, Part I: Essays (An ... on the Philosophical Investigations, Vol 3) [Paperback]

P. M. S. Hacker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0631189343 | ISBN-13: 978-0631189343 | Edition: 1

This third volume of the monumental commentary on Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations covers sections 243-427, which constitute the heart of the book. Like the previous volumes, it consists of philosophical essays and exegesis. The thirteen essays cover all the major themes of this part of Wittgenstein's masterpiece: the private language arguments, privacy, avowals and descriptions, private ostensive definition, criteria, minds and machines, behavior and behaviorism, the self, the inner and the outer, thinking, consciounesss, and the imagination. The exegesis clarifies and evaluates Wittgenstein's arguments, drawing extensively on all the unpublished papers, examining the evolution of his ideas in manuscript sources and definitively settling many controversies about the interpretation of the published text.

This commentary, like its predecessors, is indispensable for the study of Wittgenstein and is essential reading for students of the philosophy of mind.

A fourth and final volume, entitled Wittgenstein: Mind and Will will complete the commentary.

Editorial Reviews

Review

On Volume 1 of An Analytical Commentary on the Philosophical Investigations:

"Baker and Hacker skilfully conduct the reader through the tangles of controversy that surround the topics of sense and Meaning. They have an admirable grasp of the whole corpus of Wittgenstein's writings, and they constantly display the sharp contrasts between Wittgenstein's thought and currently influential 'scientific' semantics." Norman Malcolm, Times Literacy Supplement

"For someone who wants to understand, point for point and in detail, how Wittgenstein's later philosophy upsets the philosophies of Russell, Frege and the Tractatus, this is the book to read." Philosophical Books

On Volume 2: "The authors showed in the first volume that they had in fukll measure the combination of scholarship and philosophical excellence neede to expound and illuminate the intracies of the text. That combination is apparent on every page of the present work." B. Rundle, Philosophical Investigations

From the Back Cover

This third volume of the monumental commentary on Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations covers sections 243-427, which constitute the heart of the book. Like the previous volumes, it consists of philosophical essays and exegesis. The thirteen essays cover all the major themes of this part of Wittgenstein's masterpiece: the private language arguments, privacy, avowals and descriptions, private ostensive definition, criteria, minds and machines, behavior and behaviorism, the self, the inner and the outer, thinking, consciounesss, and the imagination. The exegesis clarifies and evaluates Wittgenstein's arguments, drawing extensively on all the unpublished papers, examining the evolution of his ideas in manuscript sources and definitively settling many controversies about the interpretation of the published text.

This commentary, like its predecessors, is indispensable for the study of Wittgenstein and is essential reading for students of the philosophy of mind.

A fourth and final volume, entitled Wittgenstein: Mind and Will will complete the commentary.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (October 18, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631189343
• ISBN-13: 978-0631189343
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,101,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars insight and no illusion!, June 11, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Wittgenstein: Meaning and Mind: Meaning and Mind, Volume 3 of an Analytical Commentary on the Philosophical Investigations, Part I: Essays (An ... on the Philosophical Investigations, Vol 3) (Paperback)

Denise la Sala, Dr Hacker will have your guts for a necktie! This is an important work which exposes the many underlying confusions of contemporary philosophy of mind. Our willingness to cleave to a picture of language which wrongly sees all sentences as descriptions leads to profound misunderstandings, which are uncovered here with devastating clarity. A must for anyone who wishes to be shown the way out of the fly bottle!

3 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A work that will no doubt please the self-important..., December 31, 2002

By 

Denise La Sala - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wittgenstein: Meaning and Mind: Meaning and Mind, Volume 3 of an Analytical Commentary on the Philosophical Investigations, Part I: Essays (An ... on the Philosophical Investigations, Vol 3) (Paperback)

... Wittgenstein intelligentsia. The author is so arrogant and pretentious that in one section he proposes to overthrow the empirical discipline of cognitive science by examining the English grammar of the word "mind". If the brain is truly not the organ of thinking, as you claim, Mr. Hacker; then I suppose it shall come as no insult to you that I believe *your* mental processes would suffer no loss even if said organ were removed from your skull. This book is trash and should not be read by anyone.