This is the first of two volumes which describe the development of Wittgenstein's philosophy from the Tracatus to his later writings. Part I of this volume is a survey of the whole of his work; Part II is a detailed examination of the central ideas for his early system. The second volume will cover later philosophy.

The book fills a gap in the literature on Wittgenstein between brief introductions and detailed commentaries. Although necessarily selective, the doctrines and ideas chosen for detailed discussion are those which reveal the general structure of Wittgenstein's work. David Pears has taken full account of the origins of Wittgenstein's philosophy and its relation to the philosophies of his predecessors and contemporaries. But the author's main emphasis is on the internal organization of Wittgenstein's thought. Philosophy students concentrate on the details of his work but often find it difficult to see their place in the general pattern. This book presents the general and the particular within a relatively constant framework, thereby making Wittgenstein's thought more accessible to students of philosophy and to non-specialists.