Kripke's Wittgenstein

Ali Hossein Khani is Assistant Professor at the Iranian Institute of Philosophy (IRIP) and a Researcher at the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM).

‘A superbly clear, judicious, and compendious discussion of Kripke’s classic book on Wittgenstein’s treatment of rules and private language, and of the huge secondary literature it has spawned. It significantly advances our understanding of this difficult material and will be immensely useful to anyone, students and faculty alike, who is interested in these foundational issues in the philosophy of language and mind.’ —Paul Boghossian, Julius Silver Professor of Philosophy, New York University, NY, USA‘Kripke’s Wittgenstein provides a lucid and compelling exposition of the main arguments of Kripke’s seminal book together with an exhaustive and illuminating account of all the principal responses to Kripke in the 40 years since the book’s publication. It will be a valuable tool for all students and researchers working on these topics.’ —Marie McGinn, University of York, UK‘Ali Hossein Khani’s book offers a detailed reconstruction of Kripke’s famous interpretation of Wittgenstein and an encyclopedia of the myriad responses. Khani's book will be an invaluable resource for future work in this area.’ — Martin Kusch, Professorial Research Fellow, Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna, Austria'Scholars and postgraduates approaching Kripke’s Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language for the first time will find Ali Hossein Khani’s excellent volume indispensable in understanding Kripke’s text and navigating the extensive and often difficult literature surrounding it. Indeed, even those already familiar with the rule-following issue will learn much from reading it.' —Alex Miller, University of Otago, New Zealand'Khani’s overall point is to provide a detailed and disinterested reading of Kripke’s book Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language, which itself provides a famous and controversial reading of Wittgenstein on rule-following (which is of interest in itself, that is, irrespective of how well it represents Wittgenstein’s intentions). It does so partly by examining various well-known interpretations of Kripke, and some not so well-known. This makes Khani’s book unique, as far I know. The book could easily become one’s first-choice secondary literature after Kripke’s and Wittgenstein’s own works, a kind of hermeneutic map of the territory.' —Gary Kemp, University of Glasgow, Scotland

• Preface; Reading Map; Acknowledgements; PART I: KRIPKE’S WITTGENSTEIN; I. Chapter One- Introduction to Kripke’s Wittgenstein; II. Chapter Two- The Sceptical Argument: Structure, Premises, and Conclusions; III. Chapter Three- The Sceptical Argument: Examining Candidate Facts; IV. Chapter Four- The Sceptical Solution; V. Chapter Five- Kripke’s Wittgenstein on the Problem of Other Minds; PART II: CRITICISMS AND RESPONSES; I. Chapter One- Introduction: Engaging with Kripke’s Wittgenstein; II. Chapter Two- John McDowell; III. Chapter Three- Simon Blackburn; IV. Chapter Four- Gordon Baker and Peter Hacker; V. Chapter Five- Colin McGinn; VI. Chapter Six- Crispin Wright; VII. Chapter Seven- Paul Boghossian; VIII. Chapter Eight- Philip Pettit; IX. Chapter Nine- Barry Stroud;  X. Chapter Ten- Hannah Ginsborg;  XI. Chapter Eleven- Alexander Miller;  XII. Chapter Twelve- George Wilson;  XIII. Chapter Thirteen- Scott Soames;  XIV. Chapter Fourteen- Noam Chomsky;  XV. Chapter Fifteen- Paul Horwich; XVI. Chapter Sixteen- Others: Secondary but Significant; References ; Index