Wittgenstein’s Lasting Significance

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) has exerted a more powerful influence on contemporary philosophy than any other twentieth-century thinker. But why is his legacy so enduring? In Wittgenstein’s Lasting Significance, twelve major contemporary philosophers explore the issues surrounding Wittgenstein’s importance and relevance to modern thought. Published here for the first time, the articles cover all of Wittgenstein’s major works: the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Philosophical Investigations, On Certainty, and Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics. Wittgenstein’s Lasting Significance opens with three essays on how to read the Tractatus, including the first extended defence of what has come to be called the ‘resolute’ reading, by James Conant and Cora Diamond. Further papers attempt, in different ways, to come to terms with the transition in Wittgenstein’s philosophy. These are followed by explorations of the pluralism in Wittgenstein’s later philosophy of language, his remarks on Godel’s Theorem, and the roles played by truth, certainty and scepticism in his theory of knowledge. The collection closes with an analysis of Wittgenstein’s relation to Kant and the ‘continental’ tradition of philosophical thought. The international set of contributors includes Wittgenstein specialists as well as leading figures in other areas of philosophy, making Wittgenstein’s Lasting Significance an important collection for anyone interested in contemporary philosophy. Meredith Williams, Peter Sullivan, Paul Horwich, James Conant, Cora Diamond, Laurence Goldstein, Huw Price, Pirmin Stekeler, Graham Priest, Michael Williams, Crispin Wright.