Description
Book SynopsisThe nature of reason has always been a topic at the very heart of Western philosophy. But the most famous philosopher of the twentieth century, Ludwig Wittgenstein, hardly ever discussed it. His work, though, does raise crucial questions about the subject.
Trade Review“Taken as a whole, this volume provides an extremely valuable and critically astute examination of utterly fundamental issues that need serious attention and investigation in today's philosophical climate—it constitutes a 'must read'.” (
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, February 2009)
“Preston (philosophy, Univ. of Reading) offers scholarly pieces that explore the connections in his work between reason and relativism, the reasonableness of religious belief, and Wittgenstein's notion of rule following. Recommended for academic research libraries.” (Library Journal, November 2008)
Table of ContentsPreface vii
1 Wittgenstein’s Critique of Frazer 1
Jacques Bouveresse
2 Relativism, Commensurability and Translatability 21
Hans-Johann Glock
3 ‘Back to the Rough Ground!’ Wittgensteinian Reflections on Rationality and Reason 47
Jane Heal
4 Worlds or Words Apart? Wittgenstein on Understanding Religious Language 65
Genia Schönbaumsfeld
5 The Tightrope Walker 85
Severin Schroeder
6 Rules and Reason 107
Joachim Schulte
7 Rule-Following without Reasons: Wittgenstein’s Quietism and the Constitutive Question 123
Crispin Wright
Index 145
