Final Reflections on Wittgenstein and Other Topics

P.M.S. Hacker is the leading authority on the philosophy of Wittgenstein. He has specialized in philosophy of cognitive neuroscience and written a tetralogy on human nature.

This collection of essays exhibits its author's characteristic combination of archival mastery, analytic clarity, argumentative rigour and passionate concern for the future of philosophy as part of Western culture's life of the mind. Whether or not they prove to be his final reflections on their primary subject, they make it abundantly clear why Professor Hacker's long lifetime of work still plays such a central role in our continuing attempts to take the full measure of Wittgenstein's genius.” —Stephen Mulhall, Professor of Philosophy at New College, University of Oxford, England.Peter Hacker is an outstanding Wittgenstein scholar and champion of Wittgensteinian philosophy. This collection is a fitting conclusion of his work in these areas, with topics ranging from exegetical controversies through philosophical methodology to neuroscience. It also affords a fascinating insight into an important strand within post-war analytic philosophy by someone who is one of the tradition’s pre-eminent historians. In addition to bringing together very valuable contributions over the last 20 years, it features a couple of highly interesting and provocative new essays. —Professor Dr. Hans-Johann Glock, Department of Philosophy, Universityof Zürich, and National Centre of Competence in Research–Evolving Language, Switzerland.With his thorough knowledge of Wittgenstein’s texts and thought, and in his typical lucid style, Hacker provides analyses of specific passages as well as wide views on Wittgenstein’s philosophy. To these are added engagements with other prominent Wittgenstein scholars and concluding sober reflections on our tortured civilization.” —Professor Hanoch Ben-Yami, Department of Philosophy, Central European University, Austria.“This book contains many excellent and original essays on Wittgenstein, written by one of the best living philosophers. In an age in which (analytic) philosophy has lost its compass, has become a scholastic discipline, subscribes to a scientistic ideology and produces highly technical work of little relevance or just sheer nonsense, this book is a much-needed corrective and a must-read.” —Dr. Edward Kanterian, Reader in Philosophy, University of Kent, NZ."With his thorough knowledge of Wittgenstein’s texts and thought, and in his typical lucid style, Hacker provides analyses of specific passages as well as wide views on Wittgenstein’s philosophy. To these are added engagements with other prominent Wittgenstein scholars and concluding sober reflections on our tortured civilization.”—Professor Hanoch Ben-Yami, Department of Philosophy, Central European University, Austria.

• Acknowledgments; A Very Personal Introduction; 1. ‘I should have liked to produce a good book. It has not turned out that way’; 2. Metaphysics: From Ineffability to Normativity; 3. How the Tractatus should be read: a Tribute to Luciano Bazzocchi; 4. Wittgenstein on Psycho-Physical Parallelism; 5. On Wittgenstein’s On Certainty; 6. On Certainty and Possibility; 7. Gordon Baker’s Late Interpretation of Wittgenstein; 8. Other Minds, Other People and Human Opacity; 9. An Epistolary Friendship; 10. G. H. von Wright’s The Varieties of Goodness: An Axiological Pathbreaker; 11. Cassandra’s Song: The Decline of Western Civilizations