Abstract

--This essay explores some aspects of the transition between the Tractatus and the Investigations. The argument in the book relies on a general methodological thesis: that the nonfinal versions of Wittgenstein's thoughts should not be conceived as imperfect expositions of views that were polished in the final versions and, hence, they are not just of anecdotal interest to Wittgenstein's scholars. Rather, they contain missing pieces of the philosophical puzzle, and they are essential to interpret the final remarks. This is so because, Stern argues, Wittgenstein's goal in writing was not the goal of traditional philosophers, that is, to expound their official views on some issue, providing tight arguments and deflecting objections. Wittgenstein's aim, rather, was to distill the essence of the insights and epiphanies, the milestones in the process of thinking about a problem, so as to stimulate the reader who struggles with and thinks through the same fundamental problems. The final remarks, thus, are just the cryptic tips of an iceberg and, from the point of view of the interpreter, cannot be understood properly if it is not against the backdrop of notes and drafts that contain Wittgenstein's presentations to himself of the questions he was trying to address and are a more faithful record of the dialectic of alternative approaches and solutions he was considering. Hence, Stern relies on all the sources in which Wittgenstein's ideas have arrived to us, and there is an abundance of quotes from these sources in the body of the essay.