Wittgenstein's Metametaphysics and the Realism-Idealism Debate / Progress in Mathematics (PDF)

'The author conceives of the early and later Wittgenstein's attitude towards the realism-idealism controversy as the key for solving many crucial interpretive problems at one stroke. The book provides a very interesting and original contribution to Wittgenstein scholarship. All those who wish to deepen their understanding of Wittgenstein's philosophy as a whole should read Bartmann's book.'

- Pasquale Frascolla, Professor in Philosophy of Language, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

'We are seeing right now the emergence of a new generation of Wittgenstein scholarship which seeks to get beyond the positions and controversies of recent years. Marius Bartmann's clearly and compellingly argued book makes a valuable contribution to this changing debate by focusing on Wittgenstein's effort to overcome the dichotomy between realism and idealism. That perspective allows him to look in a new and illuminating fashion at Wittgenstein's early concern with the unityof the proposition and his later concern with the topic of rule-following.'

- Hans Sluga, William and Trudy Ausfahl Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, UC Berkeley, USA

This book develops a new Wittgenstein interpretation called Wittgenstein's Metametaphysics. The basic idea is that one major strand in Wittgenstein's early and later philosophy can be described as undermining the dichotomy between realism and idealism. The aim of this book is to contribute to a better understanding of the relation between language and reality and to open up avenues of dialogue to overcome deep divides in the research literature. In the course of developing a comprehensive and in-depth interpretation, the author provides fresh and original analyses of the latest issues in Wittgenstein scholarship and gives new answers to both major exegetical and philosophical problems. This makes the book an illuminating study for scholars and advanced students alike.