back to ideas for this text


Single Idea 18743

[from 'Philosophical Investigations' by Ludwig Wittgenstein, in 5. Theory of Logic / E. Structures of Logic / 1. Logical Form ]

Full Idea

For the later Wittgenstein what we should be after is the grammatical structure of philosophical problems, not the first-order logical structure of such problems.

Gist of Idea

Wittgenstein says we want the grammar of problems, not their first-order logical structure

Source

report of Ludwig Wittgenstein (Philosophical Investigations [1952]) by Horsten,L/Pettigrew,R - Mathematical Methods in Philosophy 2

Book Reference

'Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophical Logic', ed/tr. Horsten,L/Pettigrew,R [Bloomsbury 2014], p.17


A Reaction

This is the most sympathetic spin I have ever seen put on the apparent rather anti-philosophical later Wittgenstein. I nurse doubts about highly formal approaches to philosophy, and maybe 'grammar' (whatever that is) is our target.