the French flag Ludwig Wittgenstein

Wittgenstein

Contemporary philosophy

Ludwig Wittgenstein is one of the illustrious figures of analytic philosophy. His work on the philosophy of language or the foundations of mathematics aroused the admiration of Russell or the Vienna Circle. After writing the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, he abandoned philosophy for a while, before a fundamental reconsideration that led to the writing of the Philosophical Investigations.


Bibliography

Here are the essential books if you wish to gain a better understanding of this author's thought:

Sluga, Hans; Stern, David G. (1996). The Cambridge Companion to Wittgenstein. Cambridge University Press
Crary, Alice; Reed, Rupert (2000). The New Wittgenstein. Routledge
Flowers, F.A. III; Ground, Ian (2015). Portraits of Wittgenstein, Volume 1. Bloomsbury Academic
Kenny, Anthony (1984). The Legacy of Wittgenstein. Oxford: Basil Blackwell
Klagge, James Carl, ed. (2001). Wittgenstein: Biography and Philosophy. Cambridge University Press.

Recommended videos

Conferences, symposia, radio broadcasts... here are 10 videos to help you better understand Ludwig Wittgenstein's thought.

To choose your video from the list, click below on the drop-down menu icon at the top right:


Biography: life of Wittgenstein

Youth

Ludwig Wittgenstein was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, in 1889, into a large family of wealthy, cultured industrialists. Music featured prominently: great musicians, such as Brahms and Mahler, were regularly invited.

In this environment, everyone's creativity flourished: one of Wittgenstein's brothers became a virtuoso pianist. However, the family experienced several tragedies, including the suicides of three of Ludwig's brothers. From a very early age, he was plagued by doubt and questioned the nature of truth and his own existence. Extremely demanding of himself and others, he took a harsh, critical view of the world, a trait he would retain throughout his life.


He studied at school in Linz, before moving to Berlin to study mechanical engineering. As part of his course, he had to leave Austria for England: at Manchester University, he worked in an aeronautical engineering laboratory, designing and personally testing a new propeller model.

Towards the writing of the Tractatus

His studies led him to become interested in the problem of the foundation of mathematics. In Germany, he studied under Frege, who invited him to attend the classes of Russell, author of the famous Principia Mathematica; he followed this advice and in 1911 enrolled at Cambridge University. There he met Russell, Moore, and worked on the foundations of mathematical logic.

Desiring a more stimulating environment, he left university and retired to a cabin in Norway. In this voluntary exile, he found the time and passion to carry out his reflections and wrote his first book, Notes on Logic.


During the First World War, he joined the Russian front and was awarded several medals for his courage. He kept a diary, which sheds a striking light on his personality. He converted to Christianity. It was during this period, however, which was not very conducive to philosophical reflection, at the front, that he wrote the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Taken prisoner momentarily by the Italians, he nevertheless managed to send his manuscript to Russell, who worked for its publication, in 1922.

Considering that this work definitively resolved the philosophical problems that could be posed, Wittgenstein abandoned philosophy and sought a new direction.

Wandering

He became a primary school teacher, but his demanding nature eventually led to his resignation.

He worked temporarily as a gardener's assistant in a monastery; this led him to consider embracing the clerical life, but this attempt was unsuccessful.


He was contacted by Moritz Schlick, the leader of the fledgling Vienna Circle. Its various members were very interested in the Tractatus, and a series of meetings were organised. Nevertheless, Wittgenstein eventually considered that they did not understand his thought, particularly because of their lack of interest in the ethical or religious considerations of the Tractatus, and stopped meeting them.

These invigorating discussions nevertheless had the merit of leading him to take a renewed interest in philosophy. He began to suspect a fundamental error in the Tractatus. Should he revise and correct his thinking? This doubt is intolerable, for this demanding, if not perfectionist, mind, and so prompts him to resume his reflections. These take a completely different direction, leading him to reconsider his conception of language.

The return to philosophy

In 1929, he decided to return to Cambridge, where he was triumphantly welcomed. Although he initially enrolled as a regular student, he was soon awarded a doctorate in philosophy, with the Tractatus itself serving as his thesis.

He travelled to Russia, Norway and Ireland, and worked on the manuscript of the Philosophical Investigations, a work considered by some thinkers to be more important than the Tractatus itself. In 1939, he achieved a significant milestone: he was awarded the chair of philosophy at Cambridge.

However, he resigned a few years later considering that university was not the right place to develop his thought. He withdrew again to Ireland or other isolated places to write the last pages of the Philosophical Investigations.

He died in 1951 at Cambridge.

Main works

Private Notebooks, 1914–1916
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Philosophical Grammar
Philosophical Investigations
The Blue Book
The Brown Book