Wittgenstein's Contributions to Philosophy

Any discussion of Wittgenstein's philosophical
thought would be incomplete without taking notice of the
method he employs. Often criticized for his style and
organization, many feel that they are indicative of his state
of mind; that such a lack of rigid argumentation betrays an
inadequacy within the arguments themselves. However,
criticism of Wittgenstein along these lines only serves to
demonstrate a superficial reading of his texts. Not simply
content (or even able) to just present us with the results of
his investigations, Wittgenstein coaxes the reader into
taking up an investigation of his own by means of an open
dialogue. As a dialogue, we are not confronted with a
traditional argumentative structure, i.e. the stating of
theses and their subsequent defense. Rather,
Wittgenstein attempts to draw the reader away from the
obvious by means of an indirect method of discourse.