Wittgenstein and the Moral Life: Essays in Honor of Cora Diamond (Representation and Mind series)

Cora Diamond has played a leading role in the reception and elaboration of Wittgenstein's philosophy. Diamond's contribution to Wittgenstein scholarship is distinguished by her striking and widely discussed suggestions about continuity between Wittgenstein's early and later writings. Her work in ethics, in important respects shaped by her study of Wittgenstein, has been similarly influential. The essays in this volume, by a number of distinguished philosophers, including Stanley Cavell, James Conant, John McDowell, Hilary Putnam, and Martha Nussbaum, explore groundbreaking interpretations of Wittgenstein’s philosophy and attempt to demonstrate its significance for ethics, using Diamond's writings on these topics as a springboard and inspiration. The book begins with essays that address Diamond's work on Wittgenstein, defending and further developing her work both on the Tractatus and on Wittgenstein's later thought. Additional essays take up Diamond's writings on moral philosophy, examining her concept of ''the difficulty of reality,'' her view that literature as such presents us with rational moral instruction, and her work on animals and ethics. Contributors: Stanley Cavell, James Conant, Alice Crary, David Finkelstein, Juliet Floyd, Michael Kremer, Sabrina Lovibond, John McDowell, Stephen Mulhall, Martha Nussbaum, and Hilary Putnam Cora Diamond has played a leading role in the reception and elaboration of Wittgenstein's philosophy. Diamond's contribution to Wittgenstein scholarship is distinguished by her striking and widely discussed suggestions about continuity between Wittgenstein's early and later writings. Her work in ethics, in important respects shaped by her study of Wittgenstein, has been similarly influential. The essays in this volume, by a number of distinguished philosophers, including Stanley Cavell, James Conant, John McDowell, Hilary Putnam, and Martha Nussbaum, explore groundbreaking interpretations of Wittgenstein's philosophy and attempt to demonstrate its significance for ethics, using Diamond's writings on these topics as a springboard and inspiration.

The book begins with essays that address Diamond's work on Wittgenstein, defending and further developing her work both on the Tractatus and on Wittgenstein's later thought. Additional essays take up Diamond's writings on moral philosophy, examining her concept of "the difficulty of reality," her view that literature as such presents us with rational moral instruction, and her work on animals and ethics.

Introduction......Page 10 I Wittgenstein......Page 36 1 A Recently Discovered Manuscript......Page 38 2 The Cardinal Problem of Philosophy......Page 152 3 Wittgenstein and the Inexpressible......Page 186 4 Wittgenstein and the Real Numbers......Page 244 5 Holism and Animal Minds......Page 260 II The Moral Life......Page 288 6 Companionable Thinking......Page 290 7 Comment on Stanley Cavell’s “Companionable Thinking”......Page 308 8 “In Spite of the Misery of the World”: Ethics, Contemplation, and the Source of Value......Page 314 9 A Novel in Which Nothing Happens: Fontane’s Der Stechlin and Literary Friendship......Page 336 10 The Mortality of the Soul: Bernard Williams’s Character(s)......Page 364 11 Humans, Animals, Right and Wrong......Page 390 Index......Page 414 Mild mono-Wittgensteinianism / James Conant The cardinal problem of philosophy / Michael Kremer Wittgenstein and the inexpressible / Juliet Floyd Wittgenstein and the real numbers / Hilary Putnam Holism and animal minds / David H. Finkelstein Companionable thinking / Stanley Cavell Comment on Stanley Cavell's "Companionable thinking" / John McDowell "In spite of the misery of the world": ethics, contemplation, and the source of value / Sabina Lovibond A novel in which nothing happens, Fontane's Der Stechlin, and literary friendship / Martha Nussbaum The mortality of the soul: Bernard Williams'scharacter(s) / Stephen Mulhall Humans, animals, right and wrong / Alice Crary. Essays by leading scholars that take as their point of departure Cora Diamond's work on the unity of Wittgenstein's thought and her writings on moral philosophy