Ernest Gellner (1925-1995) has been described as "one of the last great central European polymath intellectuals." In this, his last book, he throws new light on two key figures of the twentieth century: the philosopher Wittgenstein, and Malinowski, founder of modern British social anthropology. Gellner shows how the thought of both men grew from a common background of assumptions about human nature, society, and language. He ties together themes that preoccupied him, epitomizing his belief that philosophy--far from "leaving everything as it is"--is about important historical, social and personal issues.

Gellner's final book is a synoptic interpretation of the thought of Wittgenstein and Malinowski.

Gellner??'s final book is a synoptic interpretation of the thought of Wittgenstein and Malinowski.

Preface David Gellner; Foreword Steven Lukes; Part I. The Habsburg Predicament: 1. Swing alone or swing together; 2. The rivals; 3. Genesis of the individualist vision; 4. The metaphysics of romanticism; 5. Romanticism and the basis of nationalism; 6. Individualism and holism in society; 7. Crisis in Kakania; 8. Pariah liberalism; 9. Recapitulation; Part II. Wittgenstein: 10. The loneliness of the long-distance empiricist; 11. The poem to solitude, or: confessions of a rranscendental ego who is also a Viennese Jew; 12. The ego and language; 13. The world as solitary vice; 14. The mystical; 15. The central proposition of the Tractatus: world without culture; 16. Wittgenstein mark 2; 17. Tertium non datur; 18. Joint escape; 19. Janik and Toulmin: a critique; 20. The case of the disappearing self; 21. Pariah communalism; 22. Iron cage Kafka style; Part III. Malinowski: 23. The birth of modern social anthropology; 24. The Malinowskian revolution; 25. How did Malinowski get there?; 26. Whither anthropology? or: wither Bronislaw Malinowski?; 27. The difference between Krakow and Vienna; 28. Malinowski's achievement and politics; 29. Malinowski's theory of language; 30. Malinowski's later mistake; 31. The (un)originality of Malinowski and Wittgenstein; Part IV. Influences: 32. The impact and diffusion of Wittgenstein's ideas; 33. The first wave of Wittgenstein's influence; 34. A belated convergence of philosophy and anthropology; Part V. Conclusions: 35. The truth of the matter; 36. Our present condition; General bibliography; I. Jarvie, Bibliography of Ernest Gellner's writings on Wittgenstein, Malinowski, and nationalism.