Constantine Sandis has been working on Wittgenstein’s approach to other minds for over a decade. This volume collects his best writings on the topic. It sketches a picture of Wittgenstein’s approach to understanding others which explains how his anti-scepticism with regard to the philosophical problem of ‘other minds’ is not only compatible with but also supported by his scepticism concerning the real-life difficulty of understanding others (and vice versa). 

While each individual essay focuses on particular issues in Wittgenstein (including philosophical anthropology, interpersonal psychology, communication theory, and animal minds), they collectively paint a picture of what he takes the real problem of other minds to be, how to overcome it, and the limitations of our understanding. 

The book not only offers a fresh exegesis of Wittgenstein’s public and private writings on these matters but also proceeds to show the relevance of Wittgenstein beyond the remit of philosophy and the academy as a whole. These include issues in ethology, anthropology, AI intelligibility, psychology, and intercultural studies.

Constantine Sandis is Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire and a founding director of Lex Academic.

Anthem Studies in Wittgenstein

Introduction: Understanding Others Without Mind-Reading;  Wo Are "We" for Wittgenstein?; ‘If Some People Looked Like Elephants and Others Like Cats’: Wittgenstein on Understanding Others and Forms of Life; Making Ourselves Understood: Wittgenstein and Moral Epistemology; Understanding the Lion For Real; On Safari with Glock; Period and Place: Collingwood and Wittgenstein on Understanding Others; Understanding Other Cultures (Without Mind-Reading); One Fell Swoop: Small Red Book Historicism Before and After Davidson; If an Artwork Could Speak: Aesthetic Understanding After Wittgenstein;  Wittgenstein and Communication Technology - A conversation between Constantine Sandis and Richard Harper