The Undiscoverd Wittgenstein: The Twentieth Century's Most Misunderstood Philosopher

Although Ludwig Wittgenstein is often described as the most important and interesting philosopher of the 20th century, it is also said that our fascination with him is a function of our bewilderment over who he really was and what his work stands for. There are many reasons for this, one of which is the widespread tendency to ignore Wittgenstein’s historical roots and place him in the company of philosophers, such as G. E. Moore and John Austin, whose views he found entirely uncongenial. Another reason is the fact that his works have been translated, at crucial points, in ways that suggest that he held views contrary to those he actually held.

For these and other reasons, Wittgenstein has remained a misunderstood figure. As a result, the philosophical community is sharply divided between those who misrepresent Wittgenstein but adore their false image of him and those who accept the false image and then regard Wittgenstein with contempt.

The aim of this work is to uncover and bring into focus, through a more careful reading of his works, the real Wittgenstein. Philosopher John W. Cook traces Wittgenstein’s ideas and especially his vocabulary to their roots in his early writings and lectures, thereby providing a historical approach to his work that has been lacking in other commentators. This approach removes much of the mystery that has surrounded Wittgenstein’s philosophy. What emerges is a philosopher who was both more interesting and more resourceful than either his defenders or his critics have realized.

Some years ago, Cook decided that in his attempts to defend Ludwig Wittgenstein's (1889-1951) philosophy, he had been cheating both himself and his students, and so resigned his position as head of the department at the University of Oregon. Since then, he has been thinking, and here shares some insights. If there is any good that can come of his work, he says, it is to inspire others to ask questions even more searching than his own; his importance is not in his ideas, which are wrong, but in his example setting question marks down deep. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

John W. Cook is the author of Wittgenstein, Empiricism, and Language; Wittgenstein’s Metaphysics; and Morality and Cultural Differences.