Product Description

Granta's new How to Read series is based on a very simple, but novel, idea. Most beginners' guides to great thinkers and writers offer either potted biographies or condensed summaries of their major works. How to Read, by contrast, brings the reader face to face with the writing itself in the company of an expert guide. Its starting point is that in order to get close to what a writer is all about, you have to get close to the words they actually use and be shown how to read those words. Each book in the series will hopefully be a masterclass in reading. Our authors have been asked to select ten or so short extracts from a writer's work and look at them in detail as a way of revealing their central ideas and thereby opening the doors onto a whole world of thought. The books will not be merely a compilation of a thinker's most famous passages, their 'greatest hits', but will rather offer a series of clues or keys that will enable to reader to go on and make discoveries of their own. In addition to the texts and readings, each book will provide a short biographical chronology and suggestions for further reading, internet resources and so on. The books in the How to Read don't claim to tell you all you need to know. Instead they offer a refreshing set of first-hand meetings with those minds. Our hope is that these books will instruct, intrigue, embolden, encourage and delight. Though Wittgenstein wrote on the same subjects that dominate the work of other analytic philosophers - the nature of logic, the limits of language, the analysis of meaning - he did so in a peculiarly poetic style that separates his work sharply from that of his peers and makes the question of how to read him particularly pertinent. At the root of Wittgenstein's thought, Monk argues, is a determination to resist the scientism characteristic of our age, a determination to insist on the integrity and the autonomy of non-scientific forms of understanding. The kind of understanding we seek in philosophy, Wittgenstein tried to make clear, is similar to the kind we might seek of a person, a piece of music, or, indeed, of a poem. Extracts are taken from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and from a range of Wittgenstein's posthumously published writings, including Philosophical Investigations, The Blue and Brown Books, On Certainty and Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48000 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

John Banville, Irish Times
‘Ray Monk here presents what is surely the best short introduction to the work of this wonderful thinker’

Terry Eagleton, New Statesman
‘Excellent study’

The Herald (Glasgow)
‘Monk is engrossing and revealing in constructing a complete picture of the reclusive Austrian...a worthwhile, entertaining and enjoyable little book.’

Customer Reviews

A Good Reader, Yet Lacks Wider Perspective
A "reader" differs from an introduction or a beginner's guide. A reader selects key passages from an author, and "brings the reader face-to-face with the writing itself in the company of an expert guide". Thus Ray Monk elucidates key passages of Wittgenstein.

It would seem that the Wittgenstein passages are well chosen, and well explained. As far as the "How to Read" books go, this one strikes a good balance of explanatory power and simplicity of style, and further points out some common mistakes in understanding Wittgenstein. A further strength is its plain explanation of the shift from the Wittgenstein of the Tractatus to the Wittgenstein of the Philosophical Investigations.

Monk expresses some strong views about Wittgenstein, and it would seem hard to tell whether he loves him or hates him. He quotes Wittgenstein's patron, Bertrand Russell, who considered that "the later Wittgenstein seems to have grown tired of serious thinking." This, he considers, may be "precisely right".

A major weakness of the book, I felt, was that Monk did too little to give one a sense of the wider significance of Wittgenstein's views -- or of their wider intent, if Monk should think that Wittgenstein had any. It is one thing to explain a passage in simple terms, another to explain its significance. So, for instance, Monk gives one little idea of the wider place of language games or of private language in the wider scheme of things.

a clear and insightful introduction to a difficult subject
This book is one of a rare kind: Although dense in it's content it is relatively easy to read and does not sacrifice detail or accuracy to accomplish this. Ray Monk is widely known for his excellent biography of Ludwig Wittgenstein and has spent a great deal of his academic career working on his writings. I bought the book because I really liked the biography in both style and content and was wondering how Ray Monk would manage to fit so much content on so few pages. Wittgenstein is exceptionally hard to read. This is not because his style is complicated - quite the contrary: he mostly uses short and clear sentences - but because WHAT he wants to say is so hard to say. Therefore, writing an "How to read" guide in this case is quite some undertaking.

In my view, the particular strengths of the text are:
- CLARITY. Monk is very precise in his wording and yet easy to follow. Great caution is taken to not lead the reader down the track of common misunderstandings.
- COMPLETENESS OF COVERAGE. Starting with Wittgenstein's earliest writings, all main phases of his work are introduced and discussed. I find the choice of texts balanced and wise. This is all the more notable since it is hard to find prototypical passages in his vast and partly unorganized oevre.
- CONTEXT. Disagreeing with another review of the book, I find the discussion of how Wittgenstein's views relate to the intellectual framework he was in far from incomplete. Clearly, Russel's and Frege's Positions are explained in due course. Frank Ramsey's criticism of the Tractatus is oulined; Paul Engelmann's correspondence and memoir is cited as well as Maurice Drury's writings. Many connections and contrasts to classical philosophical standpoints are given (just take look at the index of the book...). As far as alternative views and current discussions go, Ray Monk can not reasonably be accused of not delivering. Just to give two examples, alternative and modern interpretations of the Tractatus (James Conant and Cora Diamond) as well as Saul Kripke's view of the Private Language Argument are presented and discussed. It should be kept in mind that this book is not intended to be a commentary but an introductory guide.

In Summa: In my opinion this is one of the very best introductions to Wittgenstein's writing. I have read many and was absolutely taken by this book. I read it twice within the first week and still go back to it often - particularly when I am looking for a short summary of a particular point. It costs next to nothing so I suggest you take my word for it and give it a try. You will definitely gain insight worth your time and money - even if you are familiar with the subject.

Very helpful introduction
This book manages to be refreshingly short while still conveying a decent idea of how to acquaint yourself with some difficult ideas. Wittgenstein's earlier work is tough philosophy often steeped in subtlety, but this does a good job of breaking things down. Would recommended to philosophy undergraduates.