Essays in the Unknown Wittgenstein

Morris Lazerowitz and Alice Ambrose, in this important book, attempt to uncover and make clear the insights embedded in Wittgenstein’s later work that, so far, have not received the critical attention they deserve. These insights, once understood, can have great explanatory power for philosophy and make it possible to look at conventional philosophy with a new understanding. The sixteen original essays presented here, twelve of which have never been published before, discuss Wittgenstein’s work after the Notebooks , 1914-1916. The authors bring to light the thoughts behind Wittgenstein’s often cryptic remarks on the linguistic unmasking of philosophical utterances . The topics discussed include necessity and philosophy, linguistic solipsism, Bouwsma’s Paradox, the fly bottle, empiricism, being and existence, mathematical proof, the philosopher and day dreaming, among others.