Wittgenstein's Notes on Logic [Paperback]

Wittgenstein's philosophical career began in 1911 when he went to Cambridge to work with Russell. He compiled theNotes on Logictwo years later as a kind of summary of the work he had done so far. Russell thought that they were 'as good as anything that has ever been done in logic', but he had Wittgenstein himself to explain them to him. Without the benefit of Wittgenstein's explanations, most later scholars have preferred to treat the Notes solely as an interpretative aid in understanding theTractatus(which draws on them for material), rather than as a philosophical work in their own right.

Michael Potter unequivocally demonstrates the philosophical and historical importance of the Notes for the first time. By teasing out the meaning of key passages, he shows how many of the most important insights in theTractatusthey contain. He discusses in detail how Wittgenstein arrived at these insights by thinking through ideas he obtained from Russell and Frege. And he uses a challenging blend of biography and philosophy to illuminate the methods Wittgenstein used in his work.

The book features the complete text of theNotesin a critical edition, with a detailed discussion of the circumstances in which they were compiled, leading to a new understanding of how they should be read.

Introduction
1. Finding a Problem
2. First Steps
3. Matter
4. Analysis
5. The Fundamental Thought
6. The Symbolic Turn
7. Simplicity
8. Unity
9. Fregean Propositions
10. Assertion
11. Complex and Fact
12. Forms
13. Russell's Theory of Judgment
14. Meaning
15. Metaphysics
16. Sense
17. Truth-Functions
18. Truth-Operations
19. Molecular Propositions
20. Generality
21. Resolving the Paradoxes
22. Typical Ambiguity
23. Identity
24. Sign and Symbol
25. Wittgenstein's Theory of Judgment
26. The Picture Theory
27. Tractarian Objects
28. Philosophy
29. Themes
HistolÓQ