Stern, David G. - Wittgenstein on Mind and Language

This book is an exposition of Wittgenstein's early conception of the nature of representation and how his later revision and criticism of that work led to a radically different way of looking at mind and language. Most interpretations of the development of Wittgenstein's philosophy focus on the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [hereafter called Tractatus], written during World War I and published shortly afterward, the Philosophical Investigations, written and rewritten during the last twenty years of Wittgenstein's life and published shortly after his death in 1951, and the literature that has grown up around these books. In contrast, my reading of his philosophy of mind and language begins from the initial articulation of his thoughts in his first drafts, conversations, and lectures and the process of revision that led to the published works.