I was very disappointed with this book. My experience with the Oxford University Press “Very Short Introductions” series is that they are understandable by the general public. Sometimes bits here and there are more challenging but they are usually generally suitable for a lay reader. The first 30 or so pages of this book fall into that category, as do the last 30 or so pages. But the middle 60 pages were, to me, completely incomprehensible.

I’m mystified that there are so many good reviews for this book on Goodreads. I would really like to know if *anyone* found the middle of this book understandable - not counting those who already have some pretty good background in analytic philosophy, or had covered Wittgenstein in a college course already, or had already spent some considerable amount of effort studying him already. Fine if this book makes people in those categories happy - but it shouldn’t have been included in a series that purports to make ideas available to “anyone” (OUP’s term, in the front matter of the book). ( )

This interpretation of Wittgenstein is both very good and horrible. What is good is that Grayling is no mindless fan of Wittgenstein, and his conclusion in this book goes as far as to doubt whether Wittgenstein is a capable philosopher at all (and not more a poet prophet). This is unique and daring in a book meant as an introduction to Wittgenstein's thinking. What is quite horrible is that Grayling has the ability, which more analytical philosophers have, to kill the material which they deal with. Under the mask of an objective interpretation (a contradiction), Grayling portraits Wittgenstein's theories as if we are dealing with a book of law. His ideas are explained well, but nowhere in this book is any passion for philosophy present. This ultimately kills Wittgenstein's genius, because it is precisely in his dancing with words that his talent lies.

Grayling seems to think that philosophy can be a cold process, detached from emotion and context. This coldness and harshness are his strengths when critically analyzing Wittgenstein, but it are his weaknesses when it comes that what ultimately fuels great philosophy: passion. Without passion, I don't care about clarity. ( )

I did come away with at least the illusion I understood something of what Wittgenstein was talking about in the Tractatus and in his later works. How much I will retain and how much I could explain to anybody else are two very different matters. ( )

Ludvig Vitgenstaini ishte një filozof jashtëzakonisht origjinal, ndikimi i të cilit në mendimin e shekullit të XX shkon përtej kufijve të filozofisë. Në këtë libër, që synon ta shtjellojë mendimin e Vitgenstainit në mënyrë sa më të kapshme dhe të kuptueshme për lexuesin e gjerë, A. C. Grayling hedh dritë mbi natyrën dhe mbi ndikimin që krijuan idetë e Vitgenstainit. Në këtë libër autori rreh të përshkruajë qoftë mendimin dhe idetë që Vitgenstaini lëvroi në periudhën e tij të hershme, qoftë mendimin dhe idetë që lëvroi në periudhën e tij të mëvonshme, duke rrahur të ngërthejë ndryshimet dhe lidhjet mes tyre për të na dhënë kësisoj përftesat që ndikimi i vazhdueshëm i Vitgenstainit krijuan në hullinë e mendimit bashkëkohor.

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was een uitzonderlijk oorspronkelijk filosoof wiens invloed op het denken van de twintigste eeuw veel verder reikt dan de filosofie alleen. Hij beweerde dat de filosofie tot taak heeft de conceptuele verwarring op te heffen en de knopen te ontwarren die het gevolg zijn van een verstrikt raken in het web van de taal. In dit boek slaagt A.C. Grayling er in de rijkdom van Wittgenstein's denken toegankelijk te maken voor de algemene, niet-gespecialiseerde lezer.
Recensie(s)
Onder de vele inleidingen in het werk van de Oostenrijkse filosoof Wittgenstein (1889-1951) is dit een zeer goede. Crayling schrijft voor een publiek dat geen wijsgerige vooropleiding bezit, maar wel bereid is om zijn hersens te gebruiken. Hij bouwt zijn betoog stap voor stap glashelder op, doet geen enkele concessie waar het de zorgvuldigheid betreft, en neemt daarbij een zekere droogheid op de koop toe. De 'Tractatus' en de 'Logische Untersuchungen' krijgen alle aandacht die ze verdienen, ook kritische aandacht. In zijn eindoordeel is Crayling voorzichtig: Wittgenstein is zeker een van de grootste persoonlijkheden uit de filosofie van de twintigste eeuw; of hij ook een groot filosoof was, zal nog moeten blijken. Bevat een korte beredeneerde literatuurlijst. Deel uit een reeks van vijf inleidingen tot belangrijke filosofen (Plato, Marx, Hume, Montaigne, Wittgenstein), die ook als set te koop zijn*.