Wittgenstein and the Human Form of Life

The implications of Wittgenstein's later writings have become one of the major features of the past few years. This text offers a critical interpretation of Wittgenstein's writings and their impact for our ways of thinking.

Oswald Hanfling is a former Professor of Philosophy at the Open University. In addition to his many papers on Wittgenstein, he is the author of several books including Wittgenstein's Later Philosophy (1989) and Philosophy and Ordinary Language (Routledge, 2000).

Introduction 1. Questions and answers in Wittgenstein's philosophy; 2. What does the Private Language Argument prove? 3. Criteria, Conventions and the problem of other minds 4. Does language need rules? 5. Wittgenstein on the use of 'I know' 6. Was Wittgenstein a sceptic? 7. Wittgenstein on language, art and humanity 8. Wittgenstein and the problem of consciousness 9. Could machines think? 10. Thinking 11. Secondary sense and 'what they have in common'