Wittgenstein's Method

Gordon Baker, together with P. M . S. Hacker, was instrumental in the elaboration of what has become the standard interpretation of Wittgenstein's later work. In a dramatic turnabout, in his later years, Baker came to the conclusion that that interpretation, which he had done so much to help consolidate, was fundamentally flawed, exegetically and philosophically. He embarked on the task of putting forward a radically new interpretation of Wittgenstein's later philosophy -- an interpretation which has seemed to some to be a perverse dismantling of his life's work, while seeming to others, myself included, to open up exciting new possibilities and to help put us in a position to better understand what Wittgenstein was really up to. Baker was in the midst of developing this new interpretation in a series of articles, when his tragic early death brought the project to an abrupt halt. This volume collects those articles. Any serious student of Wittgenstein's philosophy will want to own this book. James Conant, University of Chicago

`The essays in this volume are replete with a wealth of historical and linguistic detail. They contain the combination of careful textual exegesis and rigorous analysis which was characteristic of Baker's work generally.' Dr Mark Addis, International Journal of Philosophical Studies (2005)