ABSTRACT
Wittgenstein is not content, however, with condemning some specific ways of arriving at philosophical conclusions: he apparently wishes to claim that it is not the philosopher’s task to advance or defend any novel or surprising theses! Most people tend to think of philosophers as attempting to provide us with good reasons for accepting beliefs hitherto regarded as disputable and not entirely certain. Yet Wittgenstein asserts, as already noted, that ‘philosophy only states what everyone admits’ (PI §599), and he also claims that ‘if one tried to advance theses in philosophy, it would never be possible to debate them, because everyone would agree to them’ (PI§128).
