Table Of ContentWittgenstein: Lectures,
–
Cambridge 1930 1933
This edition of G.E. Moore’s notes, taken at Wittgenstein’s seminal Cam-
bridge lectures in the early 1930s, provides, for the first time, an almost
verbatim record of those classes. The presentation of the notes is both
accessible and faithful to the original manuscripts, and a comprehensive
introductionandsynoptictableofcontentsprovidethereaderwithessen-
tial contextual information and summaries of the topics in each lecture.
The lectures form an excellent introduction to Wittgenstein’s middle-
period thought, covering a broad range of philosophical topics ranging
from core questions in the philosophy of language, mind, logic, and
mathematics, to illuminating discussions of subjects on which Wittgen-
stein says very little elsewhere, including ethics, religion, aesthetics, psy-
choanalysis, and anthropology. The volume also includes a 1932 essay by
Moore critiquing Wittgenstein’s conception of grammar, together with
Wittgenstein’s response. A companion website offers access to images of
the entire set of source manuscripts.
DavidG.SternisaprofessorofPhilosophyandaCollegiateFellowinthe
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa. His
publicationsincludeWittgenstein’sPhilosophicalInvestigations:AnIntro-
duction (Cambridge, 2004) and Wittgenstein Reads Weininger (co-edited
with Béla Szabados, Cambridge, 2004).
Brian Rogers is an attorney in Los Angeles. He has a PhD in philosophy
from the University of California, Irvine and has published in journals
including The Review of Symbolic Logic and Nordic Wittgenstein Review.
GabrielCitronistheRayD.WolfePostdoctoralFellowintheDepartment
of Philosophy and the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies at the
University of Toronto. He has published in journals including Mind and
Philosophical Investigations.
Wittgenstein
Lectures, Cambridge
–
1930 1933
From the Notes of G.E. Moore
Edited by
David G. Stern, Brian Rogers,
and Gabriel Citron
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LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Names:Wittgenstein,Ludwig,1889-1951.|Moore,G.E.(GeorgeEdward),1873–1958.
Title:Wittgenstein:lectures,Cambridge,1930–1933:fromthenotesofG.E.Moore/edited
byDavidG.Stern,BrianRogers,GabrielCitron.
Description:NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2015.|Includesbibliographical
referencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2015020032|ISBN9781107041165(hardback)
Subjects:LCSH:Philosophy.|Moore,G.E.(GeorgeEdward),1873–1958.
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Contents
Acknowledgements page vi
Editorial introduction ix
Synoptic table of contents lxi
–
Lectures, Cambridge 1930 1933
From the Notes of G.E. Moore
Lent Term, 1930 3
May Term, 1930 39
Michaelmas Term, 1930 65
Lent Term, 1931 101
May Term, 1931 137
May Term, 1932 155
Michaelmas Term, 1932 175
Lent Term, 1933 225
May Term, 1933 305
Appendix: Moore’s short paper on Wittgenstein on grammar 367
Biographies 379
Moore’s abbreviations 385
Bibliography 389
Index 399
Acknowledgements
Gabriel Citron originally began work in 2008 on an edition of Moore’s
lecture notes from May Term, 1933. When David Stern and Brian Rogers
became interested in editing the full set of notes in the summer of 2009,
Tom Baldwin – Moore’s literary executor – suggested that the three of us
collaborate on the project. Each of us contributed equally to an initial
transcription of the notes from the manuscripts and to the formation of
procedures for editing and presenting the notes. All three editors made
substantialcontributionstotheconversionofthatinitialtranscriptioninto
thefinishedtextandthewritingoftheeditorialintroduction,buttheorder
inwhichtheeditors’namesarelistedreflectstherelativedegreesofinput.
David Stern and BrianRogers did the bulk of the conversion of the initial
transcription into a final text, with help from Gabriel Citron, and then all
threesharedinreviewingandpolishingtheeditedtext.BrianRogersedited
the diagrams and took primary responsibility for editing the logical and
mathematical portions of the text. David Stern did most of the work in
writing the editorial introduction, biographies, and footnotes, with some
portions initially drafted by Brian Rogers and Gabriel Citron. He also
obtained colour scans of the manuscripts and is responsible for their
appearance on the Wittgenstein Source website.
Many people have been extraordinarily generous in helping us to pro-
duce this volume. We would especially like to thank: Tom Baldwin,
Moore’s literary executor, and Perry Moore, Moore’s heir, for permission
toproduceaneditionofMoore’snotes;TomBaldwinandJosefRothhaupt,
for encouraging the three editors to collaborate on this edition; Hilary
Gaskin, our editor at Cambridge University Press, for encouraging us to
takeonthisambitiousproject,forheradviceatseveralstagesofthework,
and for her support over the years, even as we asked for a number of
deadlineextensions;theSyndicsofCambridgeUniversityLibraryforkind
permission to reproduce the images in this volume and the companion
website;theAmericanPhilosophicalSociety,FranklinResearchGrant,and
theUniversityofIowaArtsandHumanitiesInitiativeforsupportofDavid
Stern’straveltoCambridgeUniversityLibraryandforfundingacquisition
of high-resolution scans of Moore’s manuscripts from the Library; the
School of Social Sciences and the Department of Logic and Philosophy of
Acknowledgements vii
ScienceattheUniversityofCalifornia,IrvineforsupportofBrianRogers’s
travel to Cambridge University Library; the Old Members’ Trust, Univer-
sityCollege,OxfordandtheE.O.JamesBequest,AllSoulsCollege,Oxford
for support of Gabriel Citron’s travel to Cambridge and for purchasing
scans and photocopies of research materials; librarians at Cambridge
University Library for repeatedly scanning Moore’s lecture notes, and for
help at every stage of the way, including suggesting using an ultraviolet
light to read words damaged by glue; David McKitterick and Jonathan
Smith,attheWrenLibrary,TrinityCollege,forhelpwithquestionsabout
texts, and access to both Wittgenstein’s Nachlass and student notes taken
at his lectures; Alois Pichler and Michael Biggs, for their expert advice on
image editing; the Wittgenstein Source website for offering to host online
images of the source manuscripts; and the University of Iowa Obermann
Center for Advanced Studies for sponsoring a Summer Seminar on
this book.
Wewouldalsoliketothankallofthefollowingfortheirassistancewith
questions about editing the text: Tom Baldwin, Michael Biggs, Simon
Blackburn, Katie Buehner, Bill Child, David Citron, Mauro Engelmann,
John Forrester, Arthur Gibson, Naftali Goldberg, Jane Heal, Wolfgang
Kienzler, Jim Klagge, Gregory Landini, Mathieu Marion, Michael Nedo,
Alex Oliver, Lydia Patton, Alois Pichler, Tom Ricketts, Josef Rothhaupt,
Joachim Schulte, Hans Sluga, Jonathan Smith, Carrie Swanson, Kai
Wehmeier,andtheparticipantsinthe2015UniversityofIowaObermann
Summer Seminar. Of course none of these people are responsible for any
errors that remain.
Editorial introduction
1. Overview
When Wittgenstein moved to Cambridge in January 1929, he was
returning to the place where – over fifteen years before – he had studied
under Bertrand Russell, engaged in discussions with G.E. Moore, and
begun to develop his early philosophy. Since completing the definitive
expression of his early thought in Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,
Wittgenstein had spent several years away from philosophical pursuits.
Returning to Cambridge and re-engaging in philosophical activities
marked a significant new phase in his philosophical career. This phase
is now known as the ‘middle Wittgenstein’ – as it occurred between
Wittgenstein’s ‘early’ work, associated with the Tractatus, and his ‘later’
work,moststronglyassociatedwiththePhilosophicalInvestigations.While
these years were once regarded as merely a period of transition between
Wittgenstein’searlyandlaterwork,scholarshavenowbeguntorecognize
its distinctive philosophical character.
Upon returning to Cambridge, Wittgenstein received a research pos-
ition at TrinityCollege and immediately began to draft new philosophical
writing. The next few years were very productive, resulting in a great
quantity of writing,some of which has since beenpublished as Philosoph-
ical Remarks, Philosophical Grammar, and The Big Typescript. In January
1930 Wittgenstein also began to give lectures, in which he further
developed the themes of his ongoing research. Among those who
attended these lectures was his old friend and long-time discussion
partner, G.E. Moore. This volume contains the notes that Moore took
of Wittgenstein’s 1930–1933 Cambridge lectures. These notes not only
provide a remarkably thorough and detailed record of Wittgenstein’s first
few years as a lecturer but also offer us a new perspective on the middle
Wittgenstein.
While other accounts of Wittgenstein’s lectures from this period have
beenpublished,Moore’snotesastheyappearinthisvolumearethefullest
and most reliable record of what Wittgenstein said in those classes of the
early 1930s. After Wittgenstein’s death, Moore summarized his lecture
notes in a series of articles entitled ‘Wittgenstein’s Lectures in 1930–33’,
