The Mechanics of Meaning: Propositional Content and the Logical Space of Wittgenstein's Tractatus (Quellen Und Studien Zur Philosophie, Bd. 57)

This analysis of Wittgenstein's concept of a "spielraum", in which the author approaches the "trachus logico-philosophicus" both systematically and from the perspective of the history of philosophy and knowledge, opens up a new perspective in Wittgenstein research. In establishing unexpected cross-connections between physics, the theory of perception and logic, David Hyder links between early sensory physiology and the logicism of Russell and Frege yield a sharper and more plausible account of the notion of a "space" of possible meanings than has hitherto been avalible in the secondary literature. In showing this notion to be a formal precursor to that of a language game, the study also provides important pointers for the interpretation of Wittgenstein's late work.