Includes bibliographical references (p. 316-324) and index.
Contents:
Structure and content of the philosophical investigations -- Wittgenstein's metaphilosophy -- The method of description -- Wittgenstein's distinctive arguments : from mistake to paradox -- Two domains : linguistic mastery vs. initiate learning -- The structure of the book -- Playing the game -- The Fregean picture of language -- Wittgenstein's rejection of Frege's idea -- Builders game : language or signaling? -- Dummett's challenge : sense vs. force -- The domestication of reference -- The problem of normative similarity 1 : ostension -- Rejection of Quine's picture of language -- Objects and paradigms -- Ostensive teaching and social practices -- Logical form and the paradox of thought -- The subliming of logic -- Frege's idea and the paradox of thought -- Davidson's challenge : meaning and logical form -- The limits of systematicity -- Meaning and the paradox of interpretation -- The problem of normative similarity 2 : rules -- Two pleas for interpretation -- The community view and reductionism -- The individualist view and mystification normativity and the threat of regularism -- Rules and regularities -- The public basis of normativity -- The social basis of normativity : the negative argument -- The social basis of normativity : the positive argument -- Necessity and the threat of psychologism -- Two forms of holism -- Stage-setting : conventions without decisions -- Background technique : necessity without metaphysics -- Normativity and "psychologized" necessity -- Learning, trust, and certainty -- The paradoxes of consciousness -- The problem of normative similarity 3 : consciousness -- The epistemology of subjectivity : paradox of self-knowledge -- The ontology of subjectivity : paradox of sensation -- Cartesian thought experiments and the expressivist view -- Criteria, deception, and the new problem of other minds.
Summary:
"There is considerable debate amongst philosophers as to the basic philosophical problem Wittgenstein is attempting to solve in Philosophical Investigations. In this bold and original work, Meredith Williams argues that it is the problem of "normative similarity."" "In Blind Obedience Williams demonstrates how Wittgenstein criticizes traditional, representationalist theories of language by employing the "master/novice" distinction of the learner, arguing that this distinction is often overlooked but fundamental to understanding philosophical problems about mind and language." "The book not only provides revealing discussions of Wittgenstein's corpus but also intricate analyses of the work of Brandom, Dummett, Frege, Sellars, Davidson, Cavell and others. These are usefully compared in a bid to better situate Wittgenstein's non-intellectualist, non-theoretical approach and to highlight its unique features."--BOOK JACKET.
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