Hanna Pitkin argues that Wittgenstein's later philosophy offers a revolutionary new conception of language, and hence a new and deeper understanding of ourselves and the world of human institutions and action.

Hanna Fenichel Pitkin is Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, and author of Fortune is a Woman: Gender and Politics in the Thought of Niccolo Machiavelli (California, 1987).

"[A] generous, careful and clearly argued book . . . [which] deserves a very wide circulation, and could serve as the prototype for a whole new genre of analysis in political theory."—Stephen E. Toulmin, American Political Science Review

"I believe Pitkin has done both political theory and philosophy a good turn with her book and that the kind of communication between the two disciplines which her work reflects is deserving of strong encouragement."—Lloyd Reinhardt, Mind

"This book is rich in philosophical clarification and analyses of traditional philosophical problems. . . . An admirable book."—William M. Richards, Social Praxis