ABSTRACT
This chapter approaches Wittgenstein’s views by considering his criticisms of accounts of language which take for granted what needs to be explained. Some of Wittgenstein’s most famous arguments are directed against the Platonist’s account of concept mastery. Wittgenstein’s remarks on mastery of a practice are scattered, employed with different opponents in mind in different contexts. There are striking similarities and striking differences between Aristotle’s and Wittgenstein’s accounts of mastery of skills. Wittgenstein appears to move freely, in his account of mastery, between levels 1, 2, and 3 in Aristotle’s hierarchy of skilled workmen. In contrast with Wittgenstein’s master craftsman, Aristotle is able to provide further support for and explanation of our practice. Aristotle’s emphasis on the role and significance of the master craftsman holds out the possibility of a position that respects Wittgenstein’s concern with practice while simultaneously defending some of the claims of classical realism, which, it seems, he wished to reject.
