INTERPRETING WITTGENSTEIN

FAVRHOLDT, DAVID.

An Interpretation and Critique of Wittgenstein's Tractatus.

Copenhagen, Munksgaard, 1964. Royal 8vo. Orig. printed wrappers. A bit of foxing and sunning to wrappers, otherwise fine. Internally very nice and clean. 238 pp.

First edition of this doctoral dissertation by the important Danish Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, David Favrholdt (born 1931).

David Favrholdt, student of Jørgen Jørgensen, is considered the Danish authority on Wittgenstein, and his early interpretation of Wittgenstein's "Tractatus" has proved important for the tradition of reading and interpreting Wittgenstein in Scandinavia. Shortly after having written his doctoral dissertation, Favrholdt was appointed the first professor of philosophy at the new university of Odense in Danmark (1966), a post that he possessed for 35 years. He was born in Oregon, USA, and graduated as cand.psych in 1956 and cand.phil in 1959 from the University of Copenhagen. He has greatly influenced modern Danish philosophy and is hugely popular among students of philosophy and psychology.

"On the one hand, I consider the "Tractatus" over-estimated, for it contains many mistakes, and could be improved in all respects. On the other hand, I am convinced that some valuable points of the book have been overlooked by the commentators of Wittgenstein, and that his own fundamental viewpoint has never been understood. I am counsel for the prosecution and counsel for the defence in one. I hope this attitude is constructive, not confusing." (Favrholdt, Preface, p. (8) ).

The work was reprinted several times in the 60'ies, the first reprint being from the year after the first edition.

Order-nr.: 36930