Book discussion: Philosophical Investigations by Wittgenstein

Note that the location has been changed to Eye Bar & Restaurant!

Our next discussion is on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations.

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) is often regarded as one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. He fundamentally reshaped how philosophy understands language and its relation to philosophical problems.

In the Philosophical Investigations, he argues that philosophical problems arise from misunderstandings when language is used out of its ordinary context. Meaning, on this view, is determined by use in everyday “language games”, rather than by fixed definitions or logical structure.

Please prepare by reading remarks 1–64.

Be warned: this book reflects his anti-systematic approach in philosophy; it is composed of 800+ numbered remarks ("sketches", as he calls them) travelling criss-cross across a wide field of thought!