Wittgenstein has often been treated as a thinker whose ideas can be discussed independently of any intellectual tradition. These essays, by an American authority on Wittgenstein's thought, insist on the mutual relevance of Wittgenstein's work and the tradition of Western philosophy.

Wittgenstein has most often been treated as a thinker whose ideas can be discussed independently of any intellectual tradition. Garver, a leading exponent of Wittgenstein's thought, insists upon-and demonstrates in detail-the mutual relevance of Wittgenstein's work and the tradition of Western philosophy.