Frege and Wittgenstein’s Later Philosophy

Abstract

Interpreters have tended to focus on the relation between Frege and the early Wittgenstein, but Frege also posed problems for the later Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein's concept of a language-game was inspired byHilbert's alleged formalism, as criticised by Frege, and it points to an important dialogue that Wittgenstein engages in with Frege. Wittgenstein expresses formalist views and invokes Frege's critique of formalism at the beginning of the Big Typescript and The Blue Book. He engages more deeply with the problems posed by Frege and formalism in the remarks collected in Philosophical Grammar,where the issues raised set the agenda for the first §§242 of the Philosophical Investigations. The radical transformation in our understanding of meaning and understanding that takes place enables Wittgenstein to escape the problems which P.T. Geach believes were posed for him by Frege's paper "Thought", concerning first-person thoughts about sensations.