Howard Wettstein received his B.A. from Yeshiva University and his Ph.D. from CUNY. He was exiled to western Minnesota in 1974 and taught and fished at the University of Minnesota, Morris. He was a Visiting Associate Professor at the U. of Iowa in 1980, received an NEH Fellowship which was spent at Stanford University in 1981 and spent an additional year as Visiting Associate Professor at Stanford. Wettstein spent most of the 80s at the University of Notre Dame and moved to the University of California, Riverside in 1989, where he was Chair of the Philosophy Department for some years, and then Director of the University Honors Program. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, a psychologist, and in proximity to their children and grandchild (and a half).

The late 20th century saw great movement in the philosophy of language, often critical of the fathers of the subject-Gottlieb Frege and Bertrand Russell-but sometimes supportive of (or even defensive about) the work of the fathers. Howard Wettstein's sympathies lie with the critics. But he says that they have often misconceived their critical project, treating it in ways that are technically focused and that miss the deeper implications of their revolutionary challenge. Wettstein argues that Wittgenstein-a figure with whom the critics of Frege and Russell are typically unsympathetic-laid the foundation for much of what is really revolutionary in this late 20th century movement.

The subject itself should be of great interest, since philosophy of language has functioned as a kind of foundation for much of 20th century philosophy. But in fact it remains a subject for specialists, since the ideas are difficult and the mode of presentation is often fairly technical. In this book, Wettstein brings the non-specialist into the conversation (especially in early chapters); he also reconceives the debate in a way that avoids technical formulation. The Magic Prism is intended for professional philosophers, graduate students, and upper division undergraduates.