The struggle against dogmatism: Wittgenstein and the concept of philosophy

Abstract

* Acknowledgments * List of Abbreviations * Introduction 1. Wittgenstein on Philosophical Problems: From One Fundamental Problem to Particular Problems * The Tractatus on philosophical problems * Wittgenstein's later conception of philosophical problems * Examples of philosophical problems as based on misunderstandings * Tendencies and inclinations of thinking: philosophy as therapy * Wittgenstein's notion of peace in philosophy: the contrast with the Tractatus 2. Two Conceptions of Clarification * The Tractatus's conception of philosophy as logical analysis * Wittgenstein's later critique of the Tractatus's notion of logical analysis * Clarification in Wittgenstein's later philosophy 3. From Metaphysics and Philosophical Theses to Grammar: Wittgenstein's Turn * Philosophical theses, metaphysical philosophy, and the Tractatus * Metaphysics and conceptual investigation: the problem with metaphysics * Conceptual investigation and the problem of dogmatism * Wittgenstein's turn * The turn and the role of rules * Rules as objects of comparison * Rules, metaphysical projection, and the logic of language 4. Grammar, Meaning, and Language * Grammar, use, and meaning: the problem of the status of Wittgenstein's remarks * Wittgenstein's formulation of his conception of meaning * The concept of language: comparisons with instruments and games * Wittgenstein's development and the advantages of his mature view * Examples as centers of variation and the conception of language as a family * Avoiding dogmatism about meaning * Wittgenstein's methodological shift and analyses in terms of necessary conditions 5. The Concepts of Essence and Necessity * Constructivist readings and the arbitrariness/nonarbitrariness of grammar * Problems with constructivism * The methodological dimension of Wittgenstein's conception of essence * The nontemporality of grammatical statements * Explanations of necessity in terms of factual regularities * Wittgenstein's account of essence and necessity * Beyond theses about the source of necessity 6. Philosophical Hierarchies and the Status of Clarificatory Statements * Philosophical hierarchies and Wittgenstein's leading principle * The (alleged) necessity of accepting philosophical statements * The concept of agreement and the problem of injustice * The criteria of the correctness of grammatical remarks * Multidimensional descriptions and the new use of old dogmatic claims 7. Wittgenstein's Conception of Philosophy, Everyday Language, and Ethics * Metaphysics disguised as methodology * The historicity of philosophy * Philosophy and the everyday * Notes * Index