Wittgenstein's Notes on Logic

Wittgenstein's philosophical career began in 1911 when he went to Cambridge to work with Russell. He compiled the Notes on Logic two years later as a kind of summary of the work he had done so far. Russell thought that they were 'as good as anything that has ever been done in logic', but he had Wittgenstein himself to explain them to him. Without the benefit of Wittgenstein's explanations, most later scholars have preferred to treat the Notes solely as an interpretative aid in understanding the Tractatus (which draws on them for material), rather than as a philosophical work in their own right. Michael Potter unequivocally demonstrates the philosophical and historical importance of the Notes for the first time. By teasing out the meaning of key passages, he shows how many of the most important insights in the Tractatus they contain. He discusses in detail how Wittgenstein arrived at these insights by thinking through ideas he obtained from Russell and Frege. And he uses a challenging blend of biography and philosophy to illuminate the methods Wittgenstein used in his work. The book features the complete text of the Notes in a critical edition, with a detailed discussion of the circumstances in which they were compiled, leading to a new understanding of how they should be read.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1: Finding a Problem 2: First Steps 3: Matter 4: Analysis 5: The Fundamental Thought 6: The Symbolic Turn 7: Simplicity 8: Unity 9: Fregean Propositions 10: Assertion 11: Complex and Fact 12: Forms 13: Russell's Theory of Judgment 14: Meaning 15: Metaphysics 16: Sense 17: Truth-Functions 18: Truth-Operations 19: Molecular Propositions 20: Generality 21: Resolving the Paradoxes 22: Typical Ambiguity 23: Identity 24: Sign and Symbol 25: Wittgenstein's Theory of Judgment 26: The Picture Theory 27: Tractarian Objects 28: Philosophy 29: Themes History of the Text The Notes on Logic Bibliography

About the Author :
Michael Potter is Reader in the Philosophy of Mathematics at Cambridge University. He is the author of Sets (OUP, 1990), Reason's Nearest Kin (OUP, 2000), Set Theory and its Philosophy (OUP, 2004), and Mathematical Knowledge (edited with Mary Leng and Alexander Paseau, OUP, 2007).

Review :
Potter's stimulating book is first rate indeed, as it raises many further questions of profound and novel interest. a highly illuminating historical and biographical narrative ... Potter's book is a rather impressive accomplishment in early analytic scholarship.