Wittgenstein's Paperwork. An Example from the “Big Typescript”

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to show that close attention to Wittgenstein's workflow as he dissects and re-composes his typescripts reveals a hitherto largely unexplored stratum of his philosophy. The textual basis of this presentation is one of the initial sub-chapters of the "Big Typescript'' (BT). It is shown how Wittgenstein, in these pages, constructs a three step argument by recomposing material taken from different contexts.