Wittgenstein and His Times

Plot

In this collection of five of the most influential Wittgenstein scholars, Anthony Kenny, Rush Rhees, G. H von Wright, J.C. Nyiri and Brian McGuinness, explore the points of agreement and difference between Wittgenstein's wolrd view and that of some of his contemporaries. Kenny attempts to reconcile Wittgenstein's apparently contradictory images of the nature of philosophy; McGuinness explores the similarities of method between philosophy as Wittgenstein practiced it and psychoanalysis; Nyiri examines the influence on Wittgenstein of Spengler and the conservative movement in Germany of the 1930's; Rhees turns to Wittgenstein's fascination with mythology, symbolism, gesture and ritual in Frazier's "Golden Bough"; von Wright sums up Wittgenstein's relation to his times and stresses his alienation from contemporary attitudes. Together they make a fascinating anthology on the tensions and contradictions in Wittgenstein's thought.