Book SynopsisThis new edition of Wittgenstein’s book, strictly following the author’s recommendations, allows a more immediate comprehension of the text and dissolves several false problems that had deceived readers and scholars for a century. The faithful interpretation of decimal numbers (which alone, according to Wittgenstein, “give perspicuity and clarity to the book”) shows that the Tractatus stems from a home-page containing seven cardinal propositions and develops level by level, by perfectly coherent reading units. Indeed, “the Tractatus must be read in accordance with the numbering system, and that demands that the reader follow the text after the manner of a logical tree, which is the way in which the book was composed and in which Wittgenstein arranged his philosophical remarks” (Peter Hacker, The Philosophical Quarterly). Thence, the Tractatus is no longer an obstacle course, where critics and students were strenuously committed to decipher anacolutes, semantic jumps and bizarre combinations. On the contrary, it reveals to be, at long last, a book that every reader, from her own point of view, can enjoy. The actual form of Wittgenstein’s work discloses the harmony and the aesthetic value of a philosophical text that is contemporary and is one of the most amazing masterpieces of world literature.Trade Review“This is a welcome addition to the growing Tractatus literature. Both the presentation of Wittgenstein’s text in surveyable tree form and the publication of the “supplements” in the two appendices will be very useful.”—Duncan Richter, Professor of Philosophy, Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies, Virginia Military InstituteTable of ContentsForeword by Luciano Bazzocchi; Introduction to This Edition by P. M. S. Hacker; Historical Note by Luciano Bazzocchi; Introduction by Bertrand Russell; Preface; Tractatus logico- philosophicus; Notes; Appendix A: Supplements; Appendix B: ‘Shavings and Sawdust’.
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