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An Introduction to Wittgenstein's "Tractatus": Themes in the Philosophy of Wittgenstein (Wittgenstein Studies) by G. E. M. Anscombe
Anscombe guides us through the Tractatus and, thereby, Wittgenstein's early philosophy as a whole. She shows in particular how his arguments developed out of the discussions of Russell and Frege. This reprint is of the fourth, corrected edition.
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First published January 1, 1959
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About the author
G.E.M. Anscombe
58 books114 followersGertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe, better known as Elizabeth Anscombe, was a British analytic philosopher. A student of Ludwig Wittgenstein, she became an authority on his work, and edited and translated many books drawn from his writings, above all his Philosophical Investigations. She wrote on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, and ethics. Her 1958 article "Modern Moral Philosophy" introduced the term "consequentialism" into the language of analytic philosophy; this and subsequent articles had a seminal influence on contemporary virtue ethics. Her monograph Intention is generally recognized as her greatest and most influential work, and the continuing philosophical interest in the concepts of intention, action and practical reasoning can be said to have taken its main impetus from this work.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 20, 2019
Update: I've read another introduction to the Tractatus, which I believe is much better than Anscombe's (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...). Brockhaus's work is not only much more readable; it is also more comprehensive, in explaining Wittgenstein's views on metaphysics and ethics, as much as those on language. It turns out understanding all of these views are essential to understanding his more popular theories in philosophy of language. Anscombe focuses on Wittgenstein's philosophy of language, at the cost of neglecting these other important parts of his thought.
It is helpful to have Anscombe's particularly intricate and comprehensive explanations, to supply the very sparse writing of the Tractatus. This book is well organized. Anscombe progresses from explaining Wittgenstein's conceptualizations of elementary propositions, theory of descriptions, negation, and operations to then present some more technical parts of his work (formal concepts and series; general forms of propositions). She concludes with two chapters. One analyzes the implications of the Tractatus on problems in epistemology, criticizing verificationalist interpretations of Wittgenstein; the other analyzes the popular views about Wittgenstein's "mysticism." The Tractatus itself is not arranged in this manner, and this organization was very helpful.
Some especially helpful features of Anscombe's text include that she, in detail, explicates Frege's and Russell's views of the problems, which Wittgenstein addresses. This is needed to fully understand Wittgenstein's position. Without any deep familiarity with Frege or Russell, I had trouble following some of this explication, although most of it was informative and helpful. It is possible that before reading Wittgenstein, one must read these philosophers, to prepare for taking up Anscombe's text, and then reading the Tractatus. Another feature is that she explains and critiques some major interpretations of the Tractatus by philosophers, such as Popper and Ayer. I haven't read any other books that attempt to explain the Tractatus, so I am not in a place to evaluate the quality of Anscombe's interpretations of the especially challenging parts of Wittgenstein's thought, but I can imagine that she is very authoritative on these matters.
I found chapters 1-6, and 12-13 lucid and readable. My one complaint is that the other chapters are so technical that I couldn't understand their contents, despite re-reading these parts and going back to Wittgenstein's text. This is likely due to my lack of familiarity with the problems Wittgenstein addresses, but it's possible that these parts were not as clearly written that they could be.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a general idea of the Tractatus. Rather, it is written for students of philosophy who want an extensive background to help them understand all the fine-grained arguments (some explicit and others implicit) of the claims of the Tractatus. Anscombe introduces this book with suggesting that this book should not replace reading Wittgenstein. I affirm that suggestion.
It is helpful to have Anscombe's particularly intricate and comprehensive explanations, to supply the very sparse writing of the Tractatus. This book is well organized. Anscombe progresses from explaining Wittgenstein's conceptualizations of elementary propositions, theory of descriptions, negation, and operations to then present some more technical parts of his work (formal concepts and series; general forms of propositions). She concludes with two chapters. One analyzes the implications of the Tractatus on problems in epistemology, criticizing verificationalist interpretations of Wittgenstein; the other analyzes the popular views about Wittgenstein's "mysticism." The Tractatus itself is not arranged in this manner, and this organization was very helpful.
Some especially helpful features of Anscombe's text include that she, in detail, explicates Frege's and Russell's views of the problems, which Wittgenstein addresses. This is needed to fully understand Wittgenstein's position. Without any deep familiarity with Frege or Russell, I had trouble following some of this explication, although most of it was informative and helpful. It is possible that before reading Wittgenstein, one must read these philosophers, to prepare for taking up Anscombe's text, and then reading the Tractatus. Another feature is that she explains and critiques some major interpretations of the Tractatus by philosophers, such as Popper and Ayer. I haven't read any other books that attempt to explain the Tractatus, so I am not in a place to evaluate the quality of Anscombe's interpretations of the especially challenging parts of Wittgenstein's thought, but I can imagine that she is very authoritative on these matters.
I found chapters 1-6, and 12-13 lucid and readable. My one complaint is that the other chapters are so technical that I couldn't understand their contents, despite re-reading these parts and going back to Wittgenstein's text. This is likely due to my lack of familiarity with the problems Wittgenstein addresses, but it's possible that these parts were not as clearly written that they could be.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a general idea of the Tractatus. Rather, it is written for students of philosophy who want an extensive background to help them understand all the fine-grained arguments (some explicit and others implicit) of the claims of the Tractatus. Anscombe introduces this book with suggesting that this book should not replace reading Wittgenstein. I affirm that suggestion.
March 8, 2024
This book is excellent! Anscombe is an excellent interpreter of Wittgenstein, and a major help in understanding the thought of his Tractatus.
March 21, 2024
Warning to those who have not studied logic before: this will prove (a chuckle for the pun is in order) a big waste of your time.
Confusion is not even the word.
Confusion is not even the word.
October 9, 2020
This isn't an easy introduction to the Tractatus but it's rewarding and brilliant.
If you want an easy introduction then read H.O. Mounce's Wittgenstein's Tractatus. He provides some context and good plausible illustrations to give decent account of the theory.
This book is much much more difficult. Problems are presented. Arguments are worked through. This gives a deeper sense of where Wittgenstein was coming from. She confronts the more challenging and obscure aspects of the book. And she is critical. This is an original work of philosophy in itself.
The later chapters are particularly difficult. She refers to articles written by Frege and Ramsey. I found it helpful to read Frege's Function and Concept and On Concept and Object. They were available on the internet.
If you want an easy introduction then read H.O. Mounce's Wittgenstein's Tractatus. He provides some context and good plausible illustrations to give decent account of the theory.
This book is much much more difficult. Problems are presented. Arguments are worked through. This gives a deeper sense of where Wittgenstein was coming from. She confronts the more challenging and obscure aspects of the book. And she is critical. This is an original work of philosophy in itself.
The later chapters are particularly difficult. She refers to articles written by Frege and Ramsey. I found it helpful to read Frege's Function and Concept and On Concept and Object. They were available on the internet.
October 23, 2020
Recommended, quality exposition the logic & situates it against as much contemporaneous stuff as there was to be had in 1959.
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July 13, 2025pongo este como señal de que me he leido varios medios libros sobre wittgenstein y creo que este es el mejor, muy bien explicado todo. El de Grayling tambien esta bien
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews