Gordon Baker, Wittgensteinian Philosophical Conceptions and Perspicuous Representation: the Possibility of Multidimensional Logical Descriptions
Keywords:
Baker Gordon, Wittgenstein LudwigAbstract
This paper discusses Gordon Baker’s interpretation of the later Wittgenstein, in particular his interpretation of the notion of Wittgensteinian philosophical conceptions (Auffassungen) and the notions of non-exclusivity, local incompatibility, non-additivity and global pluralism which Baker uses to characterize Wittgensteinian conceptions. On the basis of this discussion, and a critique of certain features of Baker’s interpretation of Wittgensteinian conceptions, I introduce the notion of a multidimensional logical description of language use, explaining how this notion, which Baker’s interpretation excludes, constitutes and important element of the later Wittgenstein’s philosophical method of clarification and perspicuous representation. I conclude by explaining how Baker’s problematic notions of local incompatibility and non-additivity, if they are seen in the light of Wittgenstein’s criticisms of certain views of the completeness of philosophical or logical accounts, nevertheless point in the right direction.
References
Baker, Gordon, Wittgenstein, Frege and the Vienna Circle. Oxford: Blackwell, 1988.
Baker, Gordon. Wittgenstein’s Method: Neglected Aspects. Morris, Katherine, ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004.
Baker, Gordon and Hacker, P.M.S., Wittgenstein, Rules, Grammar and Necessity. An Analytical Commentary on the Philosophical Investigations, Volume 2. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985.
Hacker, P.M.S., “Gordon Baker’s Late Interpretation of Wittgenstein”, in G. Kahane, E. Kanterian and O. Kuusela, eds., Wittgenstein and His Interpreters: Essays in Memory of Gordon Baker. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.
Kuusela, Oskari, The Struggle Against Dogmatism: Wittgenstein and the Concept of Philosophy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008.
Kuusela, Oskari. “Wittgenstein’s Method of Conceptual Investigation and Concept Formation in Psychology”, in T. Racine and K. Slaney eds., A Wittgensteinian Perspective on the Use of Conceptual Analysis in Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills, 2013.
Kuusela, Oskari. “Logic and Ideality: Wittgenstein’s Way beyond Apriorism, Empiricism and Conventionalism in the Philosophy of Logic”, in Nuno Venturinha ed., The Textual Genesis of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations. New York: Routledge, 2013a.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Preliminary Studies for the “Philosophical Investigations” Generally Known as the Blue and Brown Books. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1958. (BB)
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Grammar. Rhees, R., ed. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1974. (PG)
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Investigations, Second Edition. G. E. M Anscombe and R. Rhees, eds. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997. Revised fourth edition, P. M. S. Hacker and Joachim Schulte, eds. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. (PI)
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Occasions 1912-51. J. Klagge and A. Nordmann eds. Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett, 1993. (PO)
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics. G.E.M Anscombe, R. Rhees and G.H. von Wright, eds. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1998. (RFM)
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Wittgenstein’s Lectures, Cambridge 1932-35. Ambrose, Alice, ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1979. (AWL)
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Wittgenstein’s Nachlass: The Bergen Electronic Edition. The Wittgenstein Archives at the University of Bergen, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. (References by manu/typescript number.)
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Zettel. Anscombe , G. E. M. and von Wright, G. H., eds. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1967. (Z)
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
NWR uses the Creative Commons license CC-BY.
Vol. 1-3 used CC-BY-NC-SA. The collected works copyright ownership for Vol. 1-2 were shared by Nordic Wittgenstein Society and ontos Verlag/De Gruyter.
