The voices of Wittgenstein. The Viena circle

This work brings in both the original German and English translation of over 100 short essays in philosophical logic and the philosophy of mind of historical importance to understanding Wittgenstein´s philosophical thought and development in the 1930´s. Transcribed from the papers of Friedrich Waismann and dating from 1932-35, the majority are highly important dictations by Wittgenstein to Waismann, but also includes texts of redrafted material by Waismann closely based on the dictations. Many of these texts become the ultimate sources of material on philosophy of language that constitutes the bulk of Waismann´s book "Logic, Sprache, Philosophy" (The Principles of Linguistic Philosophy). The transcriptions throw light on the development of Wittgenstein´s thought in this period and some of the topics are not covered in any of the existing publications of his writings, in particular his detailed attention to causal theories of meaning. They also contain texts covering psychological concepts such as expecting, intending and experience; these have no counterparts in Waismann´s publications.This is a substantial corpus of Wittgenstein´s work that has been hitherto unknown and completely available. It should be a major primary text for all scholars of Wittgenstein and a valuable introduction and background to Wittgenstein´s philosophy.
Contents: Chapter 1. Dictation for Schlick, including: Understanding a sentence as analogous to understanding a melody as a melody; Understanding a genre-picture; Language in its surroundings; Chapter 2. Notebook I, including: The causal conception of language; Reasons and causes; Russell´s logic; The rule of inference. Chapter 3. Our method, including: One cannot see into another´s heart; An overview removes disquiet. Chapter 4. Phenomenological language (idealism, etc), including: A language for describing phenomena; Physical colours. Chapter 5. The causal conception of language, including: The causal theory of meaning. Chapter 6. Hypotheses, including Verification of hypotheses. Chapter 7. Logic, including: The sense of a negation; The propositional calculus; Thinking of the consequences of a proposition. Chapter 8. Expectation, desire etc (psychological concepts), including : Is understanding a mental process?; Is a meaning something unitary? Logic and psychology. Chapter 9. Metalogical concepts, including: Socrates´ problem; Significant and senseless. Chapter 10. Mathematics, including What role do diagrams play in geometry?; Visual Space.