People directly or indirectly influenced by Wittgenstein’s work from the mid-1930s on together with people who adopted a similar approach somewhat independently are typically grouped under the label “ordinary language philosophy.” These philosophers exhibit varying degrees of similarity to Wittgenstein, but most differ from him in one respect: although he pointedly avoided offering a systematically developed philosophical position, the work of ordinary language philosophers was often more traditional in style (if not content).

John Wisdom (1904-1993) is someone who made a transition in his thinking that was in some ways comparable to Wittgenstein’s own. His earlier work was a form of philosophical analysis influenced by Russell while his later work was influenced by the later Wittgenstein. In this paper, he offers an account of philosophy in the spirit of his later approach and makes explicit comparisons with what Wittgenstein did and said about philosophy in his later work.

Wisdom is someone who made a transition in his thinking that was in some ways comparable to Wittgenstein’s own. His earlier work was a form of philosophical analysis influenced by Russell while his later work is influenced by the later Wittgenstein. In this paper, he offers an account of philosophy in the spirit of his later approach and makes explicit comparisons with what Wittgenstein did and said about philosophy in his later work.

Wisdom’s paper is organized in a series of numbered and titled sections, so I won’t offer an outline beyond noting a larger scale division between general points in §§1-5 and his conclusion (pp. 266-270, 276) and the discussion of examples in §§6-8 (pp. 270-275). Sections 6-7 deal with a single sort of example at length, and it would make sense to take that as the heart of our discussion.

Wisdom often makes allusions rather than explicit references. I won’t attempt to (and probably couldn’t) fill these all out; but I will note that the author of the book that is referred to by title alone in note 4 is Wisdom himself.