Wittgenstein: Theory and the Arts

To date, Wittgenstein’s later philosophy has had little influence on disciplines that practice the theory and criticism of the arts, such as film studies, literary studies, and history of art, and only limited influence on philosophical aesthetics. This important collection of original essays by philosophers and scholars of the arts seeks to cultivate a new reception for Wittgenstein’s later philosophy by exploring its profound implications for the study of the arts, especially for ‘theory’ as a form of explanation routinely employed in that study.

Introductory papers outline the basic tenets of Wittgenstein’s later philosophy and how it can be used to clarify the forms of explanation that are logically appropriate to the subject matter of humanistic disciplines. ‘Theory’, they conclude, is not one of these. More specialized case studies employ Wittgenstein’s philosophical methods to diagnose conceptual confusions at the heart of well-known theoretical paradigms currently employed in the study of the arts, such as psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, structuralism, and deconstruction. The volume also includes essays that address Wittgenstein’s own remarks on art and aesthetics, the relationship of his philosophy to artistic modernism, and the interpretation of Wittgenstein best known to contemporary scholars of the arts, that of Stanley Cavell.