Abstract

This book develops a new Wittgenstein interpretation called Wittgenstein’s Metametaphysics. The basic idea is that one major strand in Wittgenstein’s early and later philosophy can be described as undermining the dichotomy between realism and idealism. The aim of this book is to contribute to a better understanding of the relation between language and reality and to open up avenues of dialogue to overcome deep divides in the research literature.This book develops a new Wittgenstein interpretation called Wittgenstein’s Metametaphysics. The basic idea is that one major strand in Wittgenstein’s early and later philosophy can be described as undermining the dichotomy between realism and idealism. The aim of this book is to contribute to a better understanding of the relation between language and reality and to open up avenues of dialogue to overcome deep divides in the research literature. In order to clarify this idea and elaborate on what, exactly, is meant by the notoriously ambiguous terms “realism” and “idealism”, as well as what undermining these opposing positions amounts to in Wittgenstein’s writings, I’ll proceed in this introduction as follows. First, I’ll consider the broader context of Wittgenstein’s philosophical development and the still ongoing controversies over the continuity and discontinuity between his early and later writings. Second, by giving a synopsis of the book sections, I’ll specify in more detail how Wittgenstein’s Metametaphysics manifests itself in his two masterpieces, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the Philosophical Investigations, and connect them to a major philosophical debate each work has sparked: the debate about the resolute reading on the one hand (the so-called New Wittgenstein), and the still very controversial debate about the rule-following problem on the other.In order to clarify this idea and elaborate on what, exactly, is meant by the notoriously ambiguous terms “realism” and “idealism”, as well as what undermining these opposing positions amounts to in Wittgenstein’s writings, I’ll proceed in this Introduction as follows. First, I’ll consider the broader context of Wittgenstein’s philosophical development and the still ongoing controversies over the continuity and discontinuity between his early and later writings. Second, by giving a synopsis of the book sections, I’ll specify in more detail how Wittgenstein’s Metametaphysics manifests itself in his two masterpieces, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the Philosophical Investigations, and connect them to a major philosophical debate each work has sparked: the debate about the resolute reading on the one hand (the so-called New Wittgenstein) and the still very controversial debate about the rule-following problem on the other.