Wittgenstein on the Arbitrariness of Grammar

Author:   Michael N. Forster
Publisher:   Princeton University Press
Edition:   New edition
ISBN:  

9780691123912


Pages:   264
Publication Date:   06 November 2005
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Wittgenstein on the Arbitrariness of Grammar


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Overview

"What is the nature of a conceptual scheme? Are there alternative conceptual schemes? If so, are some more justifiable or correct than others? The later Wittgenstein already addresses these fundamental philosophical questions under the general rubric of ""grammar"" and the question of its ""arbitrariness""--and does so with great subtlety. This book explores Wittgenstein's views on these questions. Part I interprets his conception of grammar as a generalized (and otherwise modified) version of Kant's transcendental idealist solution to a puzzle about necessity. It also seeks to reconcile Wittgenstein's seemingly inconsistent answers to the question of whether or not grammar is arbitrary by showing that he believed grammar to be arbitrary in one sense and non-arbitrary in another. Part II focuses on an especially central and contested feature of Wittgenstein's account: a thesis of the diversity of grammars. The author discusses this thesis in connection with the nature of formal logic, the limits of language, and the conditions of semantic understanding or access.Strongly argued and cleary written, this book will appeal not only to philosophers but also to students of the human sciences, for whom Wittgenstein's work holds great relevance."

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael N. Forster
Publisher:   Princeton University Press
Imprint:   Princeton University Press
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 1.30cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.028kg
ISBN:  

9780691123912


ISBN 10:   0691123918
Pages:   264
Publication Date:   06 November 2005
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Introduction 1 PART ONE GRAMMAR, ARBITRARINESS, NON-ARBITRARINESS 1. Wittgenstein's Conception of Grammar 7 2. The Sense in Which Grammar Is Arbitrary 21 3. The Sense in Which Grammar Is Non-Arbitrary 66 4. Some Modest Criticisms 82 PART TWO THE DIVERSITY THESIS 5. Alternative Grammars? The Case of Formal Logic 107 6. Alternative Grammars? The Limits of Language 129 7. Alternative Grammars? The Problem of Access 153 Appendix. The Philosophical Investigations 189 Notes 193 Index 241

Reviews

Nuanced and convincingly supported, Forster's work reaches conclusions of great intrinsic interest. -Paul Horwich, University College, London and City University of New York


Nuanced and convincingly supported, Forster's work reaches conclusions of great intrinsic interest.


Nuanced and convincingly supported, Forster's work reaches conclusions of great intrinsic interest. --Paul Horwich, University College, London and City University of New York


Author Information

Michael N. Forster is Professor of Philosophy and Chairman of the Philosophy Department at the University of Chicago.

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