Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)

Author of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

146+ Works 16,118 Members 101 Reviews 81 Favorited

About the Author

Born in Vienna, Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was educated at Linz and Berlin University. In 1908 he went to England, registering as a research student in engineering at the University of Manchester. There he studied Bertrand Russell's (see also Vol. 5) Principles of Mathematics by chance and show more decided to study with Russell at Cambridge University. From 1912 to 1913, he studied under Russell's supervision and began to develop the ideas that crystallized in his Tractatus. With the outbreak of World War I, he returned home and volunteered for the Austrian Army. During his military service, he prepared the book published in 1921 as the Tractatus, first translated into English in 1922 by C. K. Ogden. Wittgenstein emerged as a philosopher whose influence spread from Austria to the English-speaking world. Perhaps the most eminent philosopher during the second half of the twentieth century, Wittgenstein had an early impact on the members of the Vienna Circle, with which he was associated. The logical atomism of the Tractatus, with its claims that propositions of logic and mathematics are tautologous and that the cognitive meaning of other sorts of scientific statements is empirical, became the fundamental source of logical positivism, or logical empiricism. Bertrand Russell adopted it as his position, and A. J. Ayer was to accept and profess it 15 years later. From the end of World War I until 1926, Wittgenstein was a schoolteacher in Austria. In 1929 his interest in philosophy renewed, and he returned to Cambridge, where even G. E. Moore came under his spell. At Cambridge Wittgenstein began a new wave in philosophical analysis distinct from the Tractatus, which had inspired the rise of logical positivism. Whereas the earlier Wittgenstein had concentrated on the formal structures of logic and mathematics, the later Wittgenstein attended to the fluidities of ordinary language. His lectures, remarks, conversations, and letters made lasting imprints on the minds of his most brilliant students, who have long since initiated the unending process of publishing them. During his lifetime Wittgenstein himself never published another book after the Tractatus. However, he was explicit that the work disclosing the methods and topics of his later years be published. This work, Philosophical Investigations (1953), is esteemed to be his most mature expression of his philosophical method and thought. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: L Wittgenstein, Lu Wittgenstein, L. Wittgenstein, Ludwig WTTGENSTEIN, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Ludvig Wittgenstein, Ludwif Wittgenstein, Ludwig Wittgenstein, wittgenstein ludwing, wittgensteinwittgens, Ludwiig Wittgenstein, Ludwig Wwittgenstein, Ludvigs Vitgenšteins, Л. Витгенштейн, Philosoph Ludwig Wittgenstein, ウィトゲンシュタイン, ヴィトゲンシュタイン, Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein, Витгенштейн Людвиг, G.E.M. Ludwig; Anscombe Wittgenstein, Cyril (Editor) L.; Barrett Wittgenstein, editor Ludwig. Cyril Barret Wittgenstein, George Ludwig; Pitcher Wittgenstein, ed., with a New Translation By D. Ludwig Wittgenstein, ルートウィヒウィトゲンシュタイン, ルードヴィヒウィトゲンシュタイン, ルートヴィヒヴィトゲンシュタイン, ルードウィヒウィトゲンシュタイン, ル－トヴィッヒ・ウィトゲンシュタ�, Ludwig; Edited by B.F. McGuinness et. al. Wittgens, ルートウィヒ・ウィトゲンシュタイ�, ルートヴィヒ・ヴィトゲンシュタイン

Image credit: Photo by Moritz Nähr / Ludwig Wittgenstein circa 1930 / Photo © ÖNB/Wien

Series

Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology

Works by Ludwig Wittgenstein

Popular Recent

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921) 4,335 copies, 46 reviews

Philosophical Investigations (1953) 3,562 copies, 19 reviews

On Certainty (1969) — Author — 1,401 copies, 8 reviews

The Blue and Brown Books (Preliminary Studies for the Philosophical Investigations) (1958) 1,385 copies, 5 reviews

Culture and Value (1977) 730 copies, 3 reviews

Lectures & conversations on aesthetics, psychology and religious belief (1966) 527 copies, 2 reviews

Remarks on Colour (1978) 416 copies, 1 review

Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics (1967) 374 copies, 2 reviews

Zettel (1967) 325 copies

Major Works: Selected Philosophical Writings (2009) 317 copies, 2 reviews

Notebooks, 1914-1916 (1957) 317 copies, 1 review

Philosophical Grammar (1969) 313 copies

Philosophical Remarks (1975) 222 copies

Wittgenstein's Lectures on the foundations of mathematics, Cambridge, 1939 : from the notes of R.G. Bosanquet, Norman… (1976) 111 copies, 1 review

Philosophical Occasions, 1912-1951 (1993) 108 copies

Tractatus logico-philosophicus. Tagebücher 1914 - 1916. Philosophische Untersuchungen. (1984) 108 copies

Wittgenstein's Lectures: Cambridge, 1932-1935 (Great Books in Philosophy) (1979) 103 copies

Tractatus logico-philosophicus e Quaderni 1914-1916 (1968) 93 copies, 1 review

Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology, Volume 1 (1980) 78 copies

Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology, Volume 2 (1980) 77 copies

Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough (1975) 75 copies, 1 review

Private Notebooks: 1914-1916 (2022) 67 copies

Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle. Conversations Recorded by Friedrich Waismann (1967) 67 copies

Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology: Preliminary Studies for Part II of Philosophical Investigations, Vol. 1 (1982) 67 copies

Osservazioni sulla filosofia della psicologia (1983) 60 copies, 1 review

Tractacus logico-philosophicus suivi de "Investigations philosophiques" (1961) 58 copies

Den ukjente dagboken : Cambridge 1930-32 og Skjolden 1936-37 (1997) 56 copies

Lecture on Ethics (1989) 55 copies

The Big Typescript (2000) 51 copies

Wittgenstein's Lectures, Cambridge, 1930-1932: From the notes of John King and Desmond Lee (Phoenix Series) (1980) 51 copies

Bemerkungen über die Farben ; Über Gewißheit ; Zettel ; Vermischte Bemerkungen (1984) 46 copies

Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology: The Inner and the Outer, 1949 - 1951, Volume 2 (1993) 39 copies

Letters to C.K. Ogden With Comments on the English Translation of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1973) 34 copies, 1 review

Letters to Russell, Keynes, and Moore (1974) 32 copies

Letters from Ludwig Wittgenstein, with a memoir (1967) 30 copies

Wörterbuch für Volksschulen (1977) 21 copies

Wittgenstein's Lectures on Philosophical Psychology, 1946-47 (1988) 21 copies

Ein Reader. (1996) 19 copies, 1 review

Tractatus logico-philosophicus ; Sobre la certeza (1900) 19 copies, 1 review

Brieven (2000) 18 copies

Diarios, conferencias (2015) — Author — 16 copies, 1 review

The Mythology in Our Language: Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough (2020) 15 copies

Prototractatus;: An early version of Tractatus logico-philosophicus (1971) 14 copies

Kirjoituksia 1929-1938 (1986) 13 copies

青色本 (ちくま学芸文庫) (2001) 13 copies

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Cambridge Letters: Correspondence With Russell, Keynes, Moore, Ramsey and Sraffa (1995) 12 copies

Wittgenstein (1989) 12 copies, 1 review

Esperienza privata e dati di senso (1989) 10 copies

Filosofia (1996) 10 copies, 1 review

Wittgenstein i (GRANDES PENSADORES) (Spanish Edition) (2009) 10 copies, 1 review

Os pensadores: Wittgenstein (2001) 9 copies

Wiener Ausgabe : Studien Texte ; Bd. 1-5 (2001) 9 copies

Causa ed effetto: seguito da Lezioni sulla libertà del volere (2006) 8 copies

Tractatus logico-philosophicus e, altri scritti filosofici non postumi (1989) 7 copies

Collected works of Ludwig Wittgenstein (Past masters) (1998) 7 copies

Vorlesungen 1930 - 1935. Cambridge 1930 - 1932 / Cambridge 1932 - 1935. (1989) 6 copies

Luz y sombra. Una vivencia (-sueño) nocturna y un fragmento epistolar ( Pre-Textos) (2004) 6 copies

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1995) — Honoree — 6 copies

Wittgenstein. Philosophie jetzt! (2001) 5 copies

Wittgenstein 5 copies

Movements of Thought: Ludwig Wittgenstein's Diary, 1930–1932 and 1936–1937 (2022) 5 copies

Obras Wittegenstein II (GRANDES PENSADORES) (Spanish Edition) (2009) 5 copies

Wittgenstein: Lectures, Cambridge 1930–1933: From the Notes of G. E. Moore (2019) 5 copies

Philosophische Bemerkungen (1964) 5 copies

Leçons sur la liberté de la volonté, suivi de : Essai sur le libre jeu de la pensée (1998) 5 copies

Cartas, encuentros, recuerdos. (2009) 4 copies

Wiener Ausgabe Studien Texte: Band 3: Bemerkungen. Philosophische Bemerkungen (1999) 3 copies

Wiener Ausgabe Studien Texte: Band 4: Bemerkungen Zur Philosophie. Bemerkungen Zur Philosophischen Grammatik (1999) 3 copies

Wiener Ausgabe Studien Texte: Band 2: Philosophische Betrachtungen. Philosophische Bemerkungen. (1999) 3 copies

Last Writings on the Phiosophy Pt 2 V 1 (Last Writings of the Philosophy of Psychology Vol. 2) 3 copies

Philosophica 3 (2001) 3 copies

A Wittgenstein Primer (1984) 3 copies

Últimos escritos sobre filosofía de la psicología: Vol I y II (Clásicos - Clásicos… (2008) 2 copies

Ultimos Escritos Sobre Filosofia de La Psicolo V.2 (Spanish Edition) (1996) 2 copies

Forelæsninger & samtaler (2001) 2 copies

Philosophica, numéro 2 (2000) 2 copies

Filosofia, secciones 86-93 del bigtypescript (2007) 2 copies

The collected works of Ludwig Wittgenstein (2002) 2 copies

Correspondance (Cambridge) (2006) 2 copies

Fenomenología,secciones 94-100 del Big Typescript (2009) 2 copies

Pensadores (Os): Investigações filosóficas 2 copies

The Essential Wittgenstein 2 copies

Correspondance philosophique (2015) 2 copies

Über Ludwig Wittgenstein edition suhrkamp ; 252 (1968) 2 copies

Lettere 1911-1951 (2012) 2 copies

Ultimi scritti, 1948-1951: la filosofia della psicologia (1998) 2 copies

Wittgenstein und die Musik Ludwig Wittgenstein - Rudolf Koder: Briefwechsel (2000) 2 copies

Lettres, Rencontres, Souvenirs (2009) 2 copies

REMARQUES SUR LES COULEURS "DARBAREYE RANG-HA" 1 copy

Os Pensadores. Wittgenstein. 1 copy

Renkler Üzerine Düşünceler 1 copy

Af: Denkbewegungen 1 copy

Wittgenstein [Opere di] 1 copy

ricerche filosofiche 1 copy, 1 review

On Certainty 1 copy

Revue Europe 906, Octobre 2004 : Wittgenstein — Contributor — 1 copy

Philosophica, numéro 1 (2000) 1 copy

Ludwig Wittgenstein Werkausgabe 1 copy

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Briefe und Begegnungen — Author — 1 copy

Scritti scelti 1 copy

Wittgenstein - os pensadores 1 copy

Wittgenstein : Investigações filosóficas 1 copy

Rules and Private Language 1 copy

Wiener Ausgabe, Vol. 2 (1994) 1 copy

Cause and Effect: Intuitive Awareness 1 copy

O livro castanho (1992) 1 copy

Philosophische Bemerkungen, Aus dem Nachlab heraus (1964) 1 copy

Wittgenstein: Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology & Relgious Beliefs (1970) 1 copy

Beiheft 1 copy

ウィトゲンシュタイン・セレクション (平凡社ライブラリー) (2000) 1 copy

Философские работы: В 2 частях 1 copy

Wittgenstein - Colecao os Pensadors - Volume XXXXVI 1 copy

Conferencia sobre ètica; con dos comentarios sobre la teoria del valor 1 copy

Wiener Ausgabe, Vol. 1 (1994) 1 copy

Föreläsningar och samtal om estetik, psykoanalys och religion 1 copy

Wittgenstein's Nachlass: Network Version, Text and Facsimiles (Wittgenstein's Nachlass: The Bergen Electronic Edition) (2000) 1 copy

Du 586: Weiss 1 copy

Philosophy and Language. [Subtitle]: Edited by Alice Ambrose and Morris Lazerowitz. (Muirhead Library of Philosophy.) 1 copy

Wittgenstein Ludwig 1 copy

Nachlass 1 copy

Vostro fratello Ludwig. Lettere alla famiglia 1908-1951 (1998) 1 copy

Annotazioni filosofiche 1 copy

Wittgenstein (Volume quarto) 1 copy

Wittgenstein (Volume terzo) 1 copy

Wittgenstein (Volume secondo) 1 copy

Obras Wittegenstein I 1 copy

Isomorfismo 1 copy

Aulas e Conversas (1998) 1 copy

Una vida oberta al transcendent 1 copy

Ludwig Wittgenstein : Portr. u. Gespr�ache 1 copy

Lectures, Cambridge 1 copy

The Quotable Wittgenstein 1 copy

درباره اخلاق و دین 1 copy

Wittgenstein's lectures, Cambridge, 1930-1931 1 copy

The Red Book and the Blue Book 1 copy

Rozličné poznámky : výbor z pozůstalosti (1993) 1 copy

Wiener Ausgabe (1998) 1 copy

I grandi filosofi : 29 - Wittgenstein 1 copy

The Tractatus and other works (Chinese translation) (2014) 1 copy

Schriften Von Ludwig Wittgenstein, Band 2: Philosophische Bemerkungen (1964) 1 copy

Tark Aur Darshan Ka Vivechan 1 copy

Lectures on Philosophy [Printout] 1 copy

Vortrag über Ethik 1 copy

Some Remarks on Logical Form 1 copy

Os pensadores 1 copy

: Corpus George Edward Moore-Alice Ambrose-Oets Kolk Bouwsma-Friedrich Waismann (2000) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Awakenings (1973) — Contributor, some editions — 2,547 copies, 25 reviews

The Age of Analysis: The 20th Century Philosophers (1955) — Contributor — 420 copies, 2 reviews

Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir (1958) — Contributor, some editions — 279 copies, 1 review

The Philosopher's Handbook: Essential Readings from Plato to Kant (2000) — Contributor — 217 copies, 1 review

Rules and Meanings: The Anthropology of Everyday Knowledge (1973) 64 copies

Wittgenstein in Cambridge: Letters and Documents 1911-1951 (2008) 22 copies

The Voices of Wittgenstein: The Vienna Circle (2003) — some editions — 19 copies, 1 review

Utopie (2006) — Contributor — 11 copies

Ludwig Wittgensteins taalfilosofie : (capita selecta uit Wittgensteins taalfilosofische reflecties) — Contributor — 1 copy

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Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Wittgenstein, Ludwig
Legal name: Wittgenstein, Ludwig Josef Johann
Other names: WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig Josef Johann
WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig
Birthdate: 1889-04-26
Date of death: 1951-04-29
Burial location: Ascension Parish Burial Ground, Cambridge, UK
Gender: male
Nationality: Austria (birth)
UK (naturalized 1939)
Country (for map): Austria
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Place of death: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Cause of death: prostate cancer
Places of residence: Vienna, Austria
Linz, Austria
Berlin, Germany
Manchester, England, UK
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Skjolden, Norway (show all 7)
Trattenbach, Austria
Education: University of Cambridge (PhD|Philosophy|1929)
Technical University of Berlin (Dipl.|1908)
Victoria University of Manchester
Occupations: philosopher
professor
logician
mathematician
Relationships: Russell, Bertrand (teacher)
Moore, G. E. (teacher)
Anscombe, G. E. M. (student)
Black, Max (student)
Geach, Peter (student)
Malcolm, Norman (student) (show all 9)
Wright, Georg Henrik von (student)
Engelmann, Paul (friend)
Ambrose, Alice (student)
Organizations: University of Cambridge
Austro-Hungarian Army (WWI)
Awards and honors: Band of the Military Service Medal with Swords (1918)
Silver Medal for Valour, First Class (1917)
Military Merit Medal with Swords on the Ribbon (1916)
Short biography: Ludwig Wittgenstein, born in Vienna, Austria to a wealthy family, is considered by some to have been the greatest philosopher of the 20th century. He continues to influence philosophical thought in topics as varied as logic and language, perception and intention, ethics and religion, aesthetics and culture. As a soldier in the Austrian army in World War I, he was captured in 1918 and spent the remaining months of the war in a prison camp, where he wrote the notes and drafts of his first book, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. It was published in 1921 in German and then translated into English the following year. In the 1930s and 1940s, he conducted seminars at Cambridge University, his alma mater, and wrote his second book, Philosophical Investigations, which was published posthumously. His conversations, lecture notes, and letters, have since been published in several volumes, including Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle, The Blue and Brown Books, and Philosophical Grammar.

Members

Discussions

Arion Press On Certainty? in Fine Press Forum (November 2021)

Reviews

On Certainty (Harper Perennial Modern Thought)… by Ludwig Wittgenstein

Whatever this type of philosophy is...I don't enjoy it. It's really focused on the idea that certain propositions serve as the foundation for other empirical statements and our certainty stems somewhat from how ingrained these propositions are in our daily life. Much interesting. Very cool.

But it quickly turns into Wittgenstein asking a few hypotheticals ad nauseum to the point that I almost didn't finish the book (which is wild, considering it's really less than 100 pages). Felt like someone took a few too many bong rips and went to town in his journal.

This could've been an email.… (more)

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remjunior | 7 other reviews | Oct 2, 2024 |

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Routledge Classics) by Ludwig Wittgenstein

The point ------->

Me: :)

That was a weird language game mister Ludwig...

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antoni4040 | 45 other reviews | May 14, 2024 |

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

No entendí nada (tal y como predijo su autor) pero lo disfruté bastante.

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arturovictoriano | 45 other reviews | Mar 14, 2024 |

Wittgenstein, Het spel van het naamloze – The Play… by Joseph Kosuth; Marcel Huys; Edelbert Köb

Kosuth uses Wittgenstein's critique of language as a basis for examining the concept and functioning of art. Associating art with indirect assertions where meanings cannot be said directly but can only he shown through the structure of its own articulation, Kosuth refers to this as art's self-referentiality and defines art as "a play within the meaning system of art"; he argues for an art that considers the uses of the elements within the work and their function within the larger cultural and social framework. Brief biographical notes on some of the 84 participating artists.… (more)

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petervanbeveren | Jan 8, 2024 |

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