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Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I own a few books on philosophy but this is currently my favourite. Ms Diamaond has produced a convincing and attractive interpretation of Wittgenstein's philosophy, which is at the same time an attractive conception of philosophy and what it might add to our lives. In keeping with her conception of philosophy - also because it is a collection of essays written at different times - this is not an essay book to sum up. However, some threads appear a number of times. She shows me a way of conceiving thought which on the one hand avoids the view that anything goes, that there are no standards and commitments proper to thought, and on the other hand avoids the view that any thinking that can't be reduced to a mechanical process is irrational or as good as. She shows that what we think we might need in order to shore up, say, rationality or objectivity or morality, say some metaphysics, we don't actually need, and in fact these false needs will soon enough lead to the end of rationality, objectivity and morality. If you have ever strugged with Wittgenstein, excited but confussed by what you are reading, this book might just be what you need. If you have ever had the feeling that even were science and, say, management, to be perfected there would still be something important left for thought to do, and without becoming art, and that this might be called philosophy, then this book shows what that might be. All in all a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Go the bloody HARD way
Review: Rush Rhees writes: "In philosophy there are no 'means of transport' by which you can reach your objective. No developments outside of philosophy, for instance, can make philosophy any easier...There can be nothing like the service which computers bring to mathematics...The philosophical difficulties have to be met and worked through. There is no sort of 'simplification', which will make them any less difficult."Cora Diamond goes the bloody hard way and works her way through the problems. Hopefully you can work through them with her and find clarity and grace. Silence in philosophy is akin to recovery in physical therapy, it only comes when we meet our ailments head on.
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Summary: Ethics, Wittgenstein-style
Review: Rush Rhees writes: "In philosophy there are no 'means of transport' by which you can reach your objective. No developments outside of philosophy, for instance, can make philosophy any easier...There can be nothing like the service which computers bring to mathematics...The philosophical difficulties have to be met and worked through. There is no sort of 'simplification', which will make them any less difficult." Cora Diamond goes the bloody hard way and works her way through the problems. Hopefully you can work through them with her and find clarity and grace. Silence in philosophy is akin to recovery in physical therapy, it only comes when we meet our ailments head on.
Rating:
Summary: As Good As It Gets
Review: This is one of the best texts on Wittgenstein ever written by a leading figure in the field. The prose here is clear and rigorous. Each chapter is excellent. I recommend the following chapters: Intro. 1, "Philosophy and the Mind," Intro II, "W. and Metaphysics," Ch. 1, "Realism and the Realistic Spirit," Ch 2, "Frege and Nonsense," Ch 3, "What Nonsense Might Be," Ch 7, "Wright's W," Ch 8, "Secondary Sense," and Ch 9, "The Face of Necessity." This book earns my highest recommendation. I also recommend: The New Wittgenstein, David Pears, David Stern, The Cambridge Companion, W. in America, and the respective articles by Dummett, Putnam, Stroud, and McDowell. Kripke is also worth looking at, and in this regard, see Gibbs on rule-following.
Rating:
Summary: As Good As It Gets
Review: This is one of the best texts on Wittgenstein ever written by a leading figure in the field. The prose here is clear and rigorous. Each chapter is excellent. I recommend the following chapters: Intro. 1, "Philosophy and the Mind," Intro II, "W. and Metaphysics," Ch. 1, "Realism and the Realistic Spirit," Ch 2, "Frege and Nonsense," Ch 3, "What Nonsense Might Be," Ch 7, "Wright's W," Ch 8, "Secondary Sense," and Ch 9, "The Face of Necessity." This book earns my highest recommendation. I also recommend: The New Wittgenstein, David Pears, David Stern, The Cambridge Companion, W. in America, and the respective articles by Dummett, Putnam, Stroud, and McDowell. Kripke is also worth looking at, and in this regard, see Gibbs on rule-following.
Rating:
Summary: Ethics, Wittgenstein-style
Review: Wittgenstein scarcely touched on moral philosophy, and while there are occasional attempts at Wittgensteinian ethics, most of them are, well, just not very good. Reading Diamond's book was the first time I've wanted to say, "If Wittgenstein had written on ethics, this is what it might have looked like."
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