This assignment is about half of the longest section in part II of the Investigations. It appears on pp. 165-182g (or pp. 193-214d in the older pagination). (Here letters count paragraphs or portions of paragraphs on a page, see the paragraph “Aspect blindness will be akin to the lack of a ‘musical ear’” is the last of the assignment.) The main topic is the idea of seeing-as. As the illustrations and references suggest, this is another example of Wittgenstein’s reflections on psychology (in this case an approach to the psychology of perception known as Gestalt psychology). But it is also linked to his discussions of meaning by way of idea he begins to consider just after this selection, the notion of experiencing the meaning of a word.

There are no substantial shifts of topic throughout this material, but you might think of it as falling into four groups of paragraphs:

• Pp. 165-166 [pp. 193-195e]. This introduces the basic images and phenomena Wittgenstein will discuss.

• Pp. 167-172m [pp. 195f-202f]. Here Wittgenstein addresses the ideas of seeing aspects and the change of aspects.

• Pp. 172m-179f [pp. 202g-210d]. There is a bit more emphasis here on the significance or consequences of seeing aspects.

• Pp. 179g-182g [pp. 210e-214d]. Finally, among these remarks are ones which discuss the failure to notice aspects.

Hallett’s commentary and most other discussions in the literature will refer to this material by way of the pagination used in the earlier editions of the Investigation. The table below indicates the way the new pagination (pp. 165-182) and the old pagination (pp. 193-214) are interleaved in this part of §xi.