Wittgenstein on Time

This Element charts Wittgenstein's reflections on time. In TLP, there is a tension between time as a form of objects and reflections on living in time and in eternity. After 1929, Wittgenstein briefly proposes a 'phenomenological language', incorporating temporal coordinates, but rejects it in favour of 'phenomenological' investigations of our various notions of time, with an interest in memory. Later, he becomes preoccupied with the dissolution of philosophical misconceptions about time and eventually loses interest in time as an independent topic. In PI, time primarily exemplifies the philosophical difficulties posed by the (surface) grammar of language. Wittgenstein's late reflections on time-related notions are piecemeal and suggest understanding the passage of time in morally loaded terms; this is how the later Wittgenstein's philosophy is developed by David Cockburn. The last section briefly presents the complex and extensive Wittgenstein-inspired philosophical treatments of time in the work of G.E.M. Anscombe and Cockburn.