Wittgenstein and the Possibility of Discourse

Four years after the publication of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations , Rush Rhees, one of Wittgenstein’s literary executors and closest friends, began writing reflections on the masterpiece he had helped to edit. In this collection of his previously unpublished writings, Rhees offers an original critique of Wittgenstein’s analogy between language and games. The volume constitutes a major contribution not only to Wittgenstein scholarship, but also to philosophical debates about the possibility of discourse, and to why conversation is central to that possibility. For the second edition, D.Z. Phillips has inserted as a preface Rhees’ article, ‘The Fundamental Problems of Philosophy’, first published in 1994. This paper gives a clear picture of Rhees’ view of the distinctive nature of philosophical questions and of the character shown in a deep pursuit of them. Secondly, Phillips has included as an additional appendix, some of Rhees’ reflections on Wittgenstein, his teacher. The book’s index has also been enhanced.

Note to the Second Edition. Preface: The Fundamental Problems of Philosphy. Note in Editing. Introduction. Analytic Table of Contents. PART ONE: PHILOSOPHY AND LANGUAGE. I. Plato, Language and the Growth of Understanding. II. ‘What is Language?’. III. The Reality of Language. PART TWO: GAMES AND LANGUAGE . IV. Discussion and Discourse. V. Games, Calculations, Discussions and Conversations. PART THREE: BEYOND WITTGENSTEIN’S BUILDERS. VI. Signals and Saying Something. VII. Language: A Family of Games?. VIII. Understanding What is Said. IX. Wittgenstein’s Builders Ä Recapitulation. PART FOUR: BELONGING TO LANGUAGE. X. Conversation and Institutions. XI. Language and Generality. XII. Language, Speaking and Common Intelligibilty. XIII. Philosoply, Life and Language. Appendix: On Wittgenstein. Rush Rhees: A Biographical Sketch. Index.

Author Biography Rush Rhees (1905–1989) taught philosophy at the University of Swansea from 1940 to 1966, where he was subsequently made an Honorary Professor and Fellow. Among his principal teachers he included Alfred Kastil, John Anderson, G.E. Moore and, above all, Ludwig Wittgenstein. He was one of Wittgenstein’s literary executors and closest friends, as well as being an outstanding philosopher in his own right. Editor Biography D.Z. Phillips was Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and Rush Rhees Professor Emeritus at the University of Wales, Swansea and Danforth Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. He was also Director of the Rush Rhees Archive, Swansea and the Associated Centre for Wittgensteinian Studies. He co–edited ‘Wittgenstein: Attention to Particulars’ (1989), a collection in Rhees′ honour, and was the editor of seven of Rhees’ works published posthumously.