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Wittgenstein in the 1930s

Wednesday 7 May 2014, 4.30PM to 6.00pm

Speaker(s): Professor David Stern, University of Iowa

Wittgenstein in the 1930s

In 1929, Wittgenstein returned to Cambridge and philosophical writing, criticising his own earlier work and turning his focus to how language is used in ordinary life. These years were a time of transition between his early and his later work, and are of great interest for anyone who wants to understand the development of his thought. The manuscripts from 1929 record his first steps away from the Tractatus; by the end of 1936, he had written an early version of the Philosophical Investigations. In the first half of the paper, Stern looks at the debate over how Wittgenstein’s philosophy changed during this period. In the second half, he approaches the question of how best to understand the development of Wittgenstein’s thought by looking at the origins of the rule-following considerations, and the relationship between Wittgenstein’s way of writing and his philosophical methods.

For more information about Professor David Stern please see: http://clas.uiowa.edu/philosophy/people/david-g-stern

Location: Department of Philosophy, Sally Baldwin Building, Block A, Room A/009

Admission: Departmental colloquium members and postgraduate students