The New Wittgenstein is a set of affiliated interpretations of the work of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. In particular, those associated with this interpretation understand Wittgenstein to have avoided putting forth a "positive" metaphysical program, and understand him to be advocating philosophy as a form of "therapy." Under this interpretation, Wittgenstein's program is dominated by the idea that philosophical problems are symptoms of illusions or "bewitchments by language," and that attempts at a "narrow" solution to philosophical problems, that do not take into account larger questions of how the questioner conducts her life, interacts with other people, and uses language generally, are doomed to failure. According to the introduction to the book The New Wittgenstein: Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (IPA: ) (April 26, 1889 – April 29, 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who contributed several ground-breaking works to modern philosophy, primarily on the foundations of logic, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mind. ... Metaphysical may refer to: Metaphysics, a branch of philosophy dealing with the ultimate nature of reality; or The Metaphysical poets, a poetic school from seventeenth century England who correspond with baroque period in European literature. ...

Wittgenstein’s primary aim in philosophy is -- to use a word he himself employs in characterizing his later philosophical procedures -- a therapeutic one. These papers have in common an understanding of Wittgenstein as aspiring, not to advance metaphysical theories, but rather to help us work ourselves out of confusions we become entangled in when philosophizing.

While many philosophers have suggested variants of such ideas in readings of Wittgenstein's "late" work, associated with the Investigations, a notable aspect of the New Wittgenstein interpretation is a view that Wittgenstein's early work, exemplified by the Tractatus, and the Investigations, are actually more deeply connected, and in less opposition, to each other than usually understood. This view is in direct conflict with the longstanding, if somewhat old-fashioned, interpretation of the Tractatus advocated by the logical positivists associated with the Vienna Circle. Philosophical Investigations, along with the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, is one of the two major works by Ludwig Wittgenstein. ... Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is the only book-length work published by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in his lifetime. ... Logical positivism (later referred to as logical empiricism) holds that philosophy should aspire to the same sort of rigor as science. ... The Vienna Circle was a group of philosophers and scientists organized in Vienna under Moritz Schlick. ...

There is no unitary "New Wittgenstein" interpretation, and proponents differ deeply amongst themselves. Philosophers often associated with the interpretation include a number of influential philosophers, mostly associated with (although sometimes antagonistic to) the traditions of analytic philosophy, including Stanley Cavell, James F. Conant, John McDowell, Hilary Putnam and Cora Diamond. Explicit critics of the "New Wittgenstein" interpretation include P.M.S. Hacker and Ian Proops. Analytic philosophy is the dominant philosophical movement of English-speaking countries, although one of its founders, Gottlob Frege, was German, and another, Ludwig Wittgenstein, was Austrian. ... Stanley Cavell (born September 1, 1926) of Brookline, Massachusetts is an American philosopher. ... John McDowell (born 1942) is a contemporary philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford and now a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. ... Hilary Whitehall Putnam (born July 31, 1926) is a key figure in the philosophy of mind during the 20th century. ...

References

• The New Wittgenstein, ed. Rupert Read and Alice Crary. Routledge, 2000. ISBN 0415173191
• Ian Proops (2001): The New Wittgenstein: A Critique