Philosophy of Wittgenstein: Indian Responses

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The book is an open-minded evaluation of Wittgenstein's philosophy of language from fresh perspectives to bring out its contemporary significance. Including papers presented by noted Indian philosophers at a national seminar, it examines the special place of Wittgenstein in the development of philosophy in the west in the twentieth century.

The papers offer an in-depth critique of Wittgenstein's theories on the limits and structure of language, operationalism in philosophy of language, idea of a private language, necessity of mathematics and logical truths, grammar of the language of emotions and language as a liberating force. Throughout the attempt is to analyse Wittgenstein's contributions vis-a-vis Indian Philosophical thinking and trace the similarities between him and Indian thinkers. The work, for instance, includes a detailed study of Wittgenstein's' notion of silence and its affiliations with silence as interpreted in the Nyaya system and identifying the common factors in Gandhi and Wittgenstein's' approach to western civilisation. It also presents a radically different understanding - from what is traditionally understood of the Wittgensteinian concept of picture.

The work will prove immensely useful to scholars concerned with linguistic representation and meaning in general and Wittgenstein's contributions to philosophy of language in particular.

About the Author:

Ramesh Chandra Pradhan, Ph.D., presently member-secretary of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, specialises in philosophy of language and meaning with particular reference to Wittgenstein. He is credited with authoring scholarly works on the subject, namely, Language and Experience: An Interpretation of the Later Philosophy of Wittgenstein; Truth, Meaning and Understanding; and Philosophy of Meaning and Representation.