Readings in Philosophical Analysis

Overview:

A selection of readings with a bit of background, linked to more detailed notes.

introduction: The purpose of this page. A cultural divide in analysis. Prerequisites.
logicism: Our story begins with Gottlob Frege, and the advances in logic which permitted Mathematics to be placed on firm logical foundations. Logicism is the philosophical doctrine that logic suffices for mathematics and was advocated both by Frege and by Bertrand Russell.
logical atomism: first attempts by Wittgenstein and Russell to export lessons from the new logic into a general philosophical context
logical positivism: the "Vienna Circle" attempt to assasinate metaphysics. Formality and syntax become more conspicuous in analytic method.
linguistic analysis: formality into the wilderness as the influence of the later Wittgenstein pushes common discourse front stage
Surveys: A small selection from the secondary literature covering this area.
Rankings: Four tendentious personal rankings of the writings of these philosophers, according to the pleasure, enlightement they have given me, and their influence and value.

Introduction:

  • The purpose of this page.
  • A cultural divide in analysis.
  • Prerequisites.

Purpose
This is really just my reading list. I decided to locate my very own variant of philosophical analysis in relation to its predecessors by first boning up on some of the key works, writing notes on them and then doing a page contrasting my own ideas with these deceased ancestors. This page is really to help me keep track of progress, but I thought it might turn out of some help to others wanting to learn a bit about this corner of the history of philosophy.
Two Cultures
If you are thinking of learning about the various kinds of philosophical analysis then its best to start with an appreciation that there are really two different cultures in conflict. This accounts for some of the diversity in philosophical analysis, and makes the differences between some of the alternatives hard to reconcile. The two cultures are, as ever, the
men of science
who are happy to come to grips with formal logic, and don't expect natural languages to be quite adequate for their purposes, and the
men of letters
who wouldn't go anywhere near analytic philosophy if they thought it could not be done in plain English (or their native language).
Prerequisites
Logicism, logical atomism, logical positivism, and formal logical analysis all require a reasonable understanding of modern mathematical logic. In principle you might be able to learn the relevant logic by reading the recommended sources, but this is not an approach I would recommend. I would recommend a basic level of understanding of first order logic and set theory, preferably obtained from a text on mathematical logic, not a philosophy book. Linguistic analysis doesn't really have any prerequisites, which may explain why this one variant of 20th Century philosophical analysis probably generated more paper than the others put together (and some). quote

Logicism:

see also: logicism
Our story begins with Gottlob Frege, and the advances in logic which permitted Mathematics to be placed on firm logical foundations. Logicism is the philosophical doctrine that logic suffices for mathematics and was advocated both by Frege and by Bertrand Russell.

primary sources
Gottlöb Frege
Begriffscrift [Frege1879] Notes
the greatest advance in logic since Aristotle, finally delivers a (nearly) formal logic (almost) adequate for the derivation of mathematics
The Foundations of Arithmetic [Frege80]
In this book Frege describes how to logicise mathematics and discusses other philosophical views on mathematics.
Grundgesetze der Arithmetic [Frege1893][Frege1903]
Frege's magnum opus in which he practised what he had previously preached. Shame about the contradiction.
Russell
The Principles of Mathematics [Russell37]
Mathematical Logic as Based on The Theory of Types[Russell08]
Principia Mathematica[Russell10]
Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy[Russell19]

secondary sources
Willard Van Orman Quine
Set Theory and its Logic [Quine69]
Hatcher
The Logical Foundations of Mathematics [Hatcher82] Notes

Logical Atomism:

  • sentences are analysed as truth functional combinations of atomic propositions
  • atomic propositions are pictures of atomic facts of which the world is made

primary sources
Bertrand Russell
The Philosophy of Logical Atomism [Russell18] Notes
Ludwig Wittgenstein Notes
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [Wittgenstein21] Notes
secondary sources
Peter Hylton
Russell, Idealism and the emergence of Analytic Philosophy [Hylton92]

Logical Positivism:

see: Carnap's Syntactical Method
  • the verification principle eliminates metaphysics
  • formal analysis advocated
  • philosophical statements into the formal mode

primary sources
Rudolph Carnap
Philosophy and Logical Syntax [Carnap34] Notes
The Philosophy of Rudolf Carnap [Carnap91]
Alfred Ayer
Language Truth and Logic [Ayer36]Notes
The Foundations of Empirical Knowledge [Ayer40]
Secondary Sources
The Semantic Tradition from Kant to Carnap [Coffa91] Notes

Linguistic Analysis:

formality into the wilderness as the influence of the later Wittgenstein pushes "ordinary language" front stage

primary sources
G.E. Moore
A Defence of Common Sense [Moore25]Notes

John Austin
A Plea for Excuses [Austin57]Notes
Sense and Sensibilia [Austin62a]
Doing Things with Words[Austin62b]

Ludwig Wittgenstein Notes
The Blue and Brown Books [Wittgenstein58]
Philosophical Investigations[Wittgenstein21]
Gilbert Ryle
Systematically Misleading Expressions [Ryle32]
The Concept of Mind[Ryle49]

Surveys:

A small selection from the secondary literature covering this area.

These aren't survey's, but I just couldn't think of a better word.
Philosophical Analysis
its development between the two world wars
J.O.Urmson [Urmson56]

This is how history looked from Oxford at the zenith of "the Oxford revolution".

Words and Things
An examination of, and an attack on, linguistic philosophy
Ernest Gellner [Gellner59] Notes

A startlingly different view from the same period. Strongly recommended for anyone tempted to take analytic philosophy seriously. Gellner seems to prefer conspiracy rather than cock-up.

Wittgenstein's Place in Twentieth Century Philosophy [Hacker96b] Notes
An enjoyable read full of fascinating historical detail, with an account of and answer to the main criticisms, of linguisitic philosophy in general and of Wittgenstein in particular. Only a modest part devoted to exposition of Wittgenstein's work.

Rankings:

Four tendentious personal rankings of the writings of these philosophers, according to the pleasure and enlightement they have given me, and their influence and value.

The Intended Meaning of the Rankings
Pleasure
How much pleasure do I get from reading original work by this philosopher?
Enlightenment
How much philosophical enlightenment do I think I have obtained from the philosopher? When I read him, do I think I am learning anything (excluding things like historical knowledge)?
Influence
How much influence do I think this philosopher has exerted over the course of analytic philosophy in the 20th century?
Value
How much value do I attach to the contribution of this philosopher to analytic philosophy? (bad ideas, however original or ingenious, count negative on this scale; talent is no excuse)

Note that: I am still reading. These rankings will change.
Even as assessments of my own subjective opinions these rankings are tenuous.

THE RANKINGS
Pleasure
Russell
Ayer
Austin
Moore
Carnap
Frege
Ryle
Wittgenstein
Enlightenment
Russell
Ayer
Frege
Austin
Carnap
Moore
Ryle
Wittgenstein
Influence
Wittgenstein
Russell
Moore
Frege
Carnap
Ayer
Austin
Ryle
Value
Russell
Carnap
Frege
Ayer
Moore
Austin
Ryle
Wittgenstein


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