News: WarrenGoldfarb lectures

Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations.
Professor Warren Goldfarb
Dept. of Philosophy, Harvard University
Fri 4th April to Mon 28th April inclusive,
meeting twice a week
Mon 3-5 and Fri 12-2 (Quad Refectory)
This seminar will be offered intensively in April, 2008. For further information contact

Lectures
In his Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein claims to be giving a radical critique of philosophy. The nature of this critique, and the nature of the activity that Wittgenstein would like to see replace philosophy as previously done, are not well understood, particularly because they are not based on any general view that underwrites the criticism ('verificationism', 'behaviorism', etc.). In this series of seminars I want to provide a unified reading of the work that focuses on five major topics: reference to objects (ontology), linguistic meaning, understanding and other cognitive notions, rule-following, and the private mental realm. A major aim is to exhibit an idea of 'Wittgensteinian scrutiny' and to point a way to apply it to contemporary questions in philosophy.

Department of Philosophy Research Strengths

The Department's research expertise lies in the history of philosophy, pragmatism and naturalism, logic, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of science, philosophy of mind and moral, social and political philosophy. For more information see the Philosophy Department's academic staff research profiles.