Reading guide for Thurs. 4/12: Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, §§363-427
 
 

Although Wittgenstein extends his consideration beyond thought here, he still questions the assumption that Ryle called the “paramechanical” picture of the mental (according to which the mental is analogous to the physical except that it concerns a mysterious stuff with miraculous properties).

• §§363-397. Imagining and imaginability. Wittgenstein again questions the mental as an independent accompaniment of the physical with a focus on imagination (and also calculation). Consider §§ 364, 368, 371, 378-379, 396.

• §§398-427. The self and consciousness. Wittgenstein’s discussion of the “I” fits naturally with the surrounding material in the Investigations, but it also has clear ties to what he said about the topic in the Tractatus. Consider §§399-401, 407- 410, 417, 426.