Saturday, October 14, 2006

2006-10-13


How to read Wittgenstein
Ray Monk
ISBN: 186207724X

Though Wittgenstein wrote on the same subjects that dominate the work of other analytic philosophers – the nature of logic, the limits of language, the analysis of meaning – he did so in a peculiarly poetic style that separates his work sharply from that of his peers and makes the question of how to read him particularly pertinent. At the root of Wittgenstein's thought, Monk argues, is a determination to resist the scientism characteristic of our age, a determination to insist on the integrity and the autonomy of non-scientific forms of understanding. The kind of understanding we seek in philosophy, Wittgenstein tried to make clear, is similar to the kind we might seek of a person, a piece of music, or, indeed, of a poem.

Extracts are taken from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and from a range of Wittgenstein's posthumously published writings, including Philosophical Investigations, The Blue and Brown Books, On Certainty and Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology.




How to Read Nietzsche
Keith Ansell Pearson
ISBN: 1862077290

Keith Ansell Pearson introduces Nietzsche's distinctive voice, the mood of his philosophical thought and in particular his use of the extended aphorism. He emphasises Nietzsche's openness to new modes and methods of knowledge, which broke away from previous philosophical thought and significantly reshaped the modern philosophical landscape.

After familiarising the reader with Nietzsche's unique approach, Ansell Pearson illuminates some of the best known and controversial of Nietzsche's philosophical arguments: the Will to Power, the Übermensch, the 'Death of God' and Nietzsche's conception of truth.

Extracts are taken from a range of Nietzsche's works, including The Gay Science; On the Genealogy of Morality, Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spake Zarathustra.


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Books bought:
-How to read Wittgenstein--Ray Monk
-How to Read Nietzsche--Keith Ansell Pearson

Book read:
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