Wittgenstein's Tractatus has generated many interpretations since its publication in 1921, but over the years a consensus has developed concerning its criticisms of Russell's philosophy. In Wittgenstein's Apprenticeship with Russell, Gregory Landini draws extensively from his work on Russell's unpublished manuscripts to show that the consensus characterises Russell with positions he did not hold. Using a careful analysis of Wittgenstein's writings he traces the 'Doctrine of Showing' and the 'fundamental idea' of the Tractatus to Russell's logical atomist research program, which dissolves philosophical problems by employing variables with structure. He argues that Russell and his apprentice Wittgenstein were allies in a research program that makes logical analysis and reconstruction the essence of philosophy. His sharp and controversial study will be essential reading for all who are interested in this rich period in the history of analytic philosophy.
Author(s): Gregory Landini
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 314
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
1 Rereading Russell and Wittgenstein......Page 15
Two dogmas of Russellian interpretation......Page 19
Logical fictions of Russell......Page 25
2 Logical atomism......Page 38
Logical atomism as a research program......Page 39
The logical independence of the facts that are truth-makers......Page 54
Acquaintance with logical objects......Page 67
Russell’s paralysis......Page 79
Retreat from Pythagoras......Page 86
3 My fundamental idea......Page 91
Showing as radical Russellianism......Page 93
Ideal versus ordinary language......Page 104
Sub specie aeternitatis......Page 108
Russell’s rejection of Showing......Page 114
Kicking away the ladder......Page 117
4 Logic as if tautologous......Page 121
Logic as if decidable......Page 126
Scaffolding......Page 132
Wittgenstein’s N-operator......Page 139
Quantification and the N-operator......Page 148
5 Tractarian logicism......Page 161
Ramified types as scaffolding in Russell and Wittgenstein......Page 164
Equations versus tautologies......Page 172
Weak Ancestral......Page 176
Counting Cardinals......Page 177
Multiplication......Page 178
Numbers as exponents of operations......Page 184
6 Principia’s second edition......Page 203
Extensionality and neutral monism......Page 206
The oracle on Reducibility......Page 215
Slipshod notations?......Page 222
Ramsey’s extensional functions......Page 228
7 Logic as the essence of philosophy......Page 241
Ontology as meaningless......Page 244
Ontology as structured variables......Page 251
Carnap versus Quine on ontology......Page 255
Return to Pythagoras......Page 259
Appendix A: Exclusive quantifiers......Page 267
Axiomatization......Page 270
Ramsey/Hintikka translations......Page 274
Infinity as scaffolding......Page 277
Russell’s analysis of logical necessity as universal truth......Page 280
Logical necessity as logical truth......Page 285
Tractarian combinatorialism......Page 294
A. WORKS BY RUSSELL......Page 299
B. WORKS BY WITTGENSTEIN......Page 301
C. BOOKS AND ARTICLES CITED......Page 302
Index......Page 311
