Table Of ContentArthur Gibson
Niamh O’Mahony
Editors
Ludwig
Wittgenstein:
Dictating
Philosophy
To Francis Skinner –
The Wittgenstein-Skinner Manuscripts
Ludwig Wittgenstein: Dictating Philosophy
(cid:129) ’
Arthur Gibson Niamh O Mahony
Ludwig Wittgenstein:
Dictating Philosophy
–
To Francis Skinner The
Wittgenstein-Skinner Manuscripts
Transcribed and Edited with Introductory Chapters and Notes
ArthurGibson NiamhO’Mahony
DepartmentofPureMathematics Cambridge,UK
andMathematicalStatistics,Centre
forMathematicalSciences
UniversityofCambridge
Cambridge,UK
ThisbookispublishedasaspecialeditionoftheNordicWittgensteinStudieswiththewebsite
oftheseries.
ThecoverusesphotosofWittgenstein’samanuensis,FrancisSkinner,arevirtuallyunknown.
Thishithertounknownonefrom1936,kindlyretrievedbyhisfamily,neededextensive
restorationforittobepublishable.WearegratefultothemathematicianDrSimoneParisotto,
forachievingthisoutcome–sofaithfultotheoriginal–amidhisresearchattheCambridge
MathematicsFacultyandFitzwilliamMuseum.
ISBN978-3-030-36086-3 ISBN978-3-030-36087-0 (eBook)
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Plate1Wittgenstein’samanuensisandfriend,FrancisSkinner,summer1936,attheweddingof
Francis’sister.(TheeffectsofthemetallegbraceduetopolioshowonFrancis’outerrighttrouser
leg.SeealsoAppendix[Q]forFrancis’sister’snotesonhim.)WearegratefultotheSkinnerfamily
forretrievingthisphotograph.(PublishedimagesofWittgenstein’samanuensis,FrancisSkinner,
are virtually unknown. The condition of this rare 1936 photograph of Francis Skinner needed
extensiverestorationforittobepublishable.WearegratefultoMathematicianDr.SimoneParisotto
for achieving this so faithfully to the original, amid his research at the Cambridge Mathematics
FacultyandFitzwilliamMuseum.)
For Nadia and Mark
Foreword
ArthurGibsonwasthefirsttorecognisetheimportanceofthenewdiscoveryofthe
Wittgenstein-Skinner hitherto unpublished Archive. He deserves many congratula-
tions on the publication. Its contents enable us (or rather primarily him) to recon-
struct a whole phase in Wittgenstein’s philosophy. His Introduction is exemplary
andprovidesnewwaysforwardtogeneratefutureinsights.ProfessorGibsonaffords
us fresh insights into Wittgenstein’s methods of composition, of thought, and
particularly reveals what Wittgenstein’s difficulties with mathematics were; but
thatthiscouldallonly(orbest)bedonebysomeonewithGibson’sbreadthofskills
andabilitytopullinarelevantinsightfromremoteareas.Thisbookthrowssomuch
lightonacrucialperiodofthedevelopmentoftheworkandthepublishingplansof
Wittgenstein. It is very revelatory of his attitude towards processes of creative
collaborationandevenfriendship.
Thebookaboundswithgoodqualities:thisEdition’stranscriptionsoftheoriginal
manuscripts; its profound, original yet accessible Introduction; the informative
importanceofitsfootnotes,alsofortheirevidencesignallingWittgenstein’sthought
processes;thewiderangeofvaluable,hithertoinaccessibleaswellasnewrangesof
informationandinsightsinitsAppendices–allamounttoatreasuryforreaders,and
forfurtherunderstandingofthesubject.
In Cambridge, Professor Gibson has, in effect, crafted his own informal research
phrontisterion. His expertise and researches, which have conquered areas of the
learned world sometimes in a dramatic manner, are spread across subjects and
faculties.Thisfocusreflectsaspectsoftheimportanceofhisownoriginalresearches
in a range of subjects, which also can be brought to bear on Wittgenstein, as
witnessed in the present book. Various authorities and his colleagues in diverse
subjects have celebrated and highlighted aspects of this picture. Bernard Williams
xi
xii Foreword
stated,“ArthurGibsonisaphilosopherofsignificantinternationaldistinction–atthe
very least”. Considering Wittgenstein’s engagement (e.g. in Chap. 4 below) with
philosophyoflanguage,anOxfordProfessorofFrench,MalcolmBowie’sobserva-
tionispertinent:“ArthurGibsonisawriterofphenomenalintellectualprowess,and
everythinghewritesdemandstobetakenseriously.Readerswhostaywithhimover
longdistanceswillreaprichrewards:heisanenlargerofhorizons”.Hisapproachto
Wittgenstein’sconcernswithlanguagegamesisinformedbylinguisticexpertise:a
Cambridge Regius Professor of Hebrew, Robert Gordon reported: “Gibson’s book
Text and Tablet brings a logician’s insights to bear on Biblical and Near Eastern
traditionsandontheirmoderninterpreters...thisbookproposesoriginalsolutionsto
a wide range of problems”. Other examples abound; Martin Rees stated, “Arthur
Gibson’sGodandtheUniverseisaneruditeandimpressiveachievement”–relevant
forthepresentbook,withWittgensteinengagingwithNewton(Chap.8)andJames
Jeans(Chap.5),andothers.InassessinghowWittgenstein’swritingsinthepresent
bookinformtwenty-first-centurydebates,itisworthreadinganotheroftheEditor’s
books, which engages with such concerns as Metaphysics and Transcendence.
Notice the view of its publisher’s (Routledge) anonymous Continental referee,
statingthat“Thisbookisoutstandingandofmajorsignificance.Itisadistinguished
andimportantcontributiontothesubject,aswellasoriginalwritingofhighorder...a
productofamatureanddeepmind.Itfallsintothatclassofbothsurprisingpotential
and quality that could outstrip Foucault”. Frank Kermode, who over years
researchedwiththeEditoronnumeroussubjects,concluded:“ArthurGibsoncom-
binesatemperamentascheerfulasagoodopencoalfirewithamindlikeapressure
cooker...HeisaRenaissanceman...andagenius”.
ThisEditionisalsofortunatetobenefitfromitsotherEditor,NiamhO’Mahony,not
least with her expertise as a sometime Trinity College Cambridge Russianist
researcher and a former writer, researcher and reviewer on the staff of the BBC
RussianService,whichplaceherinanexpertpositiontoguideus.Thisisevidenced
byherimpressivenewtranslationsofthePushkinpoems(seeAppendix[J])–poems
that Wittgenstein utilized andcopiedoutbyhand inRussian;they appear immedi-
atelyafterthetimeofSkinner’sdeath.Valuableistheway,forexample,inwhichthe
EditionincorporatesO’Mahony’spresentationofthenewlydiscovered(Trinity)Pat
Sloan Moscow letter about Wittgenstein (Appendix [R]). These draw on her
published research and lecturing on the subject (cf. O’Mahony 2013). Even
O’Mahony’s and Gibson’s original gathering and interpretation of apparently sec-
ondary resources – for example, the first publication of the ancestry of Francis
Skinner (Appendix B), which launches and facilitates new initiatives – are of
considerablevalueforfutureresearch.
I personally – and readers should – offer profuse thanks for this Edition, which
presents Wittgenstein’s hitherto unpublished output, depicting his thoughts and
Foreword xiii
cognitiveprocesses.CongratulationstoArthurGibsonandNiamhO’Mahonyonthe
quality of their achievement and for what impressive resources they are, in their
insightsandanalyses,aswellastowhattime-consuminglengthstheyhavegone,to
provideuswiththisvolume.
TheQueen’sCollege ProfessorBrianMcGuinness
Oxford,UK
UniversityofSiena
Siena,Italy
Reference
O’Mahony,N.(2013).RussianmattersforWittgenstein.InJ.PadillaGalvez&M.
Gaffal (Eds.), Doubtful certainties: Language-Games, forms of life, relativism
(pp.149–180).Heusenstamm:Ontos,&WalterdeGruyter,Series:Aporia7.
