Wittgenstein: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Rating:
Summary: Very clear
Review: A very clear introduction to Wittgenstein from a skeptical point of view. The book is mostly about Wittgenstein's ideas on language.

Rating:
Summary: A good deal more lucid than Wittgenstein himself.
Review: A.C. Grayling, also the author of the highly recommended _An Introduction to Philosophical Logic_, here provides a short, easily readable, and surprisingly lucid introduction to the thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Anyone who has tried to read Wittgenstein himself will find Grayling's clear exposition a blessed relief. And Grayling's conclusions are very insightful; he has a keen eye for the contradictions inherent in Wittgenstein's theorizing about doing away with theorizing, and he is altogether skeptical that Wittgenstein's influence on analytic philosophy has been as great as some have maintained. Grayling's closing personal view of Wittgenstein's contributions is too delightful to omit: "the journey through Wittgenstein's circuitous, metaphorical, sometimes opaque negations and suggestions is long; but the distance it takes one is short.'

Rating:
Summary: A lucid introduction to Wittgenstein
Review: Even though I have an undergraduate degree in philosophy, I did not study Wittgenstein as a student. After receiving a degree in law and devoting two decades to building a law practice, I once again returned to philosophy, and attempted to read Wittgenstein's "Tractatus" and "Philosophical Investigations." I was at a loss. I simply did not understand what Wittgenstein was trying to say. I then read Grayling's brief introduction to Wittgenstein, which provided a foundation for returning to the original texts. Grayling's "Wittgenstein" proved invaluable to understanding Wittgenstein, and I recommend that anyone approaching Wittgenstein for the first time read Grayling's essay before reading Wittgenstein's texts.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: Grayling is on the money with his writings about the early Wittgenstein, but his analysis and evaluation of the later Wittgenstein leaves a lot to be desired (the author's reputation notwithstanding). If you read carefully and slowly, W's Philosophical Investigations is still the best - and a fairly clear (though sometimes rambling)- introduction to the later W (it's sort of a thinking aloud in a dialectical manner)

In a nutshell, PI is against philosophical essentialism and reductionism with a focus on how language is used. There, now skip Grayling and read PI.

Rating:
Summary: very good in parts, rather opinionated in others
Review: Grayling's provides a splendid intorduction which has the remarkable effect of making Wittgenstein's comprehensible at some level. This is no mean feat. A FIVE star rating here.

However, Grayling's efforts towards the end of the book to abruptly "downplay" Wittgenstein as a major philosopher do not really add to one's understanding, and also bring the book's rating a notch lower to FOUR star; this remains a minor blemish in an otherwise first rate write up which flows with remarkable smoothness. And the fact that Wittgenstein survives such "attacks" only goes to show the man's enduring place in philosophy.