Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations (SUNY Series in Philosophy) [Paperback]

William H. Brenner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0791442020 | ISBN-13: 978-0791442029 | Publication Date: June 3, 1999

An imaginative and exciting exposition of themes from Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, this book helps readers find their way around the "forest of remarks" that make up this classic. Chapters on language, mind, color, number, God, value, and philosophy develop a major theme: that there are various kinds of language use-a variety philosophy needs to look at but tends to overlook.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William H. Brenner is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Old Dominion University. He is the translator, with John F. Holley, of Joachim Schulte's Wittgenstein: An Introduction, also published by SUNY Press, and the aansfr of Logic and Philosophy: An Integrated Introduction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (June 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791442020
• ISBN-13: 978-0791442029
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #792,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not very good, June 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations (SUNY Series in Philosophy) (Paperback)

I bought this book on the strength of Cora Diamond's blurb on the back cover. I was very disappointed. Especially in his discussion of rule following, Brenner does not so much explain the relevant ideas as he paraphrases them. (An example: in his discussion of sections 206-223, Brenner imagines someone asking "suppose different people respond in diffferent ways to the same order. Who is right?" He answers, "if there is an established practice among these people then the right way will mean the customary way." The answer is a direct paraphrase of the text around section 201. But simply paraphrasing or extracting from the text gets us nowhere. If you already understand Wittgenstein, you will understand this remark. If not you won't. Either way, it won't much help.) Brenner's discussion of the private language argument is better. But there's still _much_ better expository material available.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars don't bother, March 20, 2007

By 

J. Schrempp - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations (SUNY Series in Philosophy) (Paperback)

I was hoping to get an overview of Wittgenstein's philosophical investigations - this is not it. According to the introduction, Wittgenstein is considered very hard to understand and the author is going to prove that his writings were actually coherent. Then he takes us on a confused trip through the works. The author gives a zillion footnotes back into W's papers and quotes from them at length. I didn't feel there was a synthesis of W's work, more of a confused roadmap. If you're a Wittgenstein junkie then you might find this book useful. I felt like I was reading a grad student's research paper. If you're a student of philosophy looking to understand what Wittgenstein is all about, then this is not the book for you.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Just exactly what was the point?, May 12, 2006

By 

James Nassan (Berkely, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations (SUNY Series in Philosophy) (Paperback)

WPI Review


Of all the exegesis on Wittgenstein's work, this one suffers the greatest lack of clarity. Anyone who wishes to understand Wittgenstein should steer clear of Brenner's work. Speaking from an experienced vista (a student in Brenner's class) the material covered in Brenner's WPI and his course at ODU is unnecessarily difficult to understand. The combination of irrelevant commentary from other sources and awkward language makes this book one for the recycling pile. The review on the back by Cora Diamond would lead one to believe this work offers some kind of insight that cannot be obtained elsewhere. I would advise the reader to continue looking.

As other readers who left comments suggest, this book is a lackluster example of Wittgenstein. If you are interested in learning about Wittgenstein there are other sources with a mainstream analysis availble. This book tends to be vaguely written and isn't devoid of making presumptuous claims that cannot be substanitiated. In other words, the work is largely composed of opinion that is not in correspondence with the major scholars of Wittgenstein.