Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Wittgenstein and the Tractatus (Routledge Philosophy GuideBooks)

This Guidebook is great. Having only the most precarious of grasps on the formidable (and formidably frustrating) Tractatus, this book led me assuredly, if a bit repetitively, through the basics of Wittgenstein scholarship. A relatively strong understanding of philosophy is a must to get the most out this book as it delves fairly deep into the various realist/idealist/solipsistic interpretations of the Tractatus as well as having a lengthy and helpful chapter on Tractarian logic, which isn't always easy.While there is always more to learn from TLP, this Guidebook provided me with the basic structure and mysterious paradoxes that constitute Wittgenstein's system. For anyone interested in the Tractatus who yearns for recent scholarship and a good perspective on his loudest commentators, e.g. Hacker, Anscombe, Ramsey, Russell, etc, etc. this is a good buy. You won't be babied, but you won't be left behind either.

I highly recommend this guide....I was having difficulty understanding Wittgenstein ...this book walked me through it.

I am shocked at how unfinished this eBook is. No Table of Contents---None! No way to navigate between chapters. You just have to scroll and scroll, paragraph after paragraph, until you find the chapter you are looking for.I'm not returning it because I think some of the essays might be useful to me. However, I will not be purchasing any more of the Routledge Guidebooks if they are going to charge nearly 20 dollars but not do a single thing---nothing---to give the text some production value. I could have had my graduate assistant just scan every page of the library's copy into a PDF if I wanted something as messy as this thing.Routledge: Please at least add TOC's to future eBooks.

I found this guide extremely helpful for reading the Tractatus. This guide is a helpful mix of both exegesis and exposition of Wittgenstein's claims in the Tractatus. The early chapters of this book are especially helpful in understanding Wittgensteins picture theory. While I think chapters 5 and 6 could have been better, I think that overall this book is excellent.