Review of Barry, Donald K., 'Forms of Life and Following Rules: A Wittgensteinian Defence of Relativism', Leiden/New York/Kolm. E.J. Brill, 1996, 192.

Abstract

Donald Barry, in 'Forms of Life and Following Rules', defends a version of epistemological relativism. He draws in particular on two notions from the later work of Wittgenstein, viz. the remarks on rule-following and seeing-as. This is not simply an exercise in scholarly exegesis, but a thoughtful application of Wittgenstein to current philosophical issues. The argument Barry develops in defence of epistemological relativism not only casts light on Wittgenstein's remarks, but also on Kuhn's apparently unrelated notion of paradigm.