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Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1889-1951)
Copyright: MAGNO/Austrian Archives
Wittgenstein was born on 26 April 1889 into a wealthy industrialist family of Habsburg Vienna. After studying engineering in Berlin and Manchester, he enrolled at the Trinity College in Cambridge in order to make acquaintance with the philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell. From the moment he met Russel, Wittgenstein showed an intense interest in the questions of logic. Influenced by Russel, Wittgenstein published his major work “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” (1921).
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is the only book-length work published by Ludwig Wittgenstein in his lifetime, and is now widely considered one of the most important philosophical works of the twentieth century. The book is very largely rooted in logic and philosophy of language, and indeed Wittgenstein was one of the prominent figures of the "Linguistic Turn."
At the outbreak of World War I, Wittgenstein enlisted in the Austrian army. He spent the first two years of the war behind the lines, thus able to continue his work on logic. Finished in 1918, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was first published in German in 1921 as Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung.
The Tractatus attracted the attention of two influential groups of philosophers, one based in Cambridge, the other based in Vienna and including Moritz Schlick, Rudolph Carnap, Otto Neurath, Kurt Gödel, and other logical positivists later collectively known as the Vienna Circle.
Consistent with his view that he had solved all the essential problems of philosophy, Wittgenstein trained to be an elementary school teacher. After the war Wittgenstein was teaching in the small village of Puchberg in Lower Austria, for a short time he even worked as gardener in a monastery. In 1926 the multi-talented philosopher designed a house for his sister Margarethe Wittgenstein-Stonborough in Vienna.
In 1929 Wittgenstein returned to Trinity College in Cambridge where important thinkers like Betrand Russel and George Edward Moore taught. Wittgenstein stayed on at Cambridge as a lecturer and wrote his second major work, " Philosophische Untersuchungen" (published posthumously in 1953; Philosophical Investigations); in it, Wittgentein discusses numerous problems and puzzles in the fields semantics, logic, the foundations of mathematics and the nature of consciousness. In 1947 he finally resigned his academic position and moved to Ireland to work on his own. In 1949 he discovered that he had cancer, and in 1951 he moved into his doctor's house in Cambridge, knowing that he had only a few months to live. He died on 29 April 1951.
Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is the only book-length work published by Ludwig Wittgenstein in his lifetime, and is now widely considered one of the most important philosophical works of the twentieth century. The book is very largely rooted in logic and philosophy of language, and indeed Wittgenstein was one of the prominent figures of the "Linguistic Turn."
At the outbreak of World War I, Wittgenstein enlisted in the Austrian army. He spent the first two years of the war behind the lines, thus able to continue his work on logic. Finished in 1918, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was first published in German in 1921 as Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung.
The Tractatus attracted the attention of two influential groups of philosophers, one based in Cambridge, the other based in Vienna and including Moritz Schlick, Rudolph Carnap, Otto Neurath, Kurt Gödel, and other logical positivists later collectively known as the Vienna Circle.
Consistent with his view that he had solved all the essential problems of philosophy, Wittgenstein trained to be an elementary school teacher. After the war Wittgenstein was teaching in the small village of Puchberg in Lower Austria, for a short time he even worked as gardener in a monastery. In 1926 the multi-talented philosopher designed a house for his sister Margarethe Wittgenstein-Stonborough in Vienna.
In 1929 Wittgenstein returned to Trinity College in Cambridge where important thinkers like Betrand Russel and George Edward Moore taught. Wittgenstein stayed on at Cambridge as a lecturer and wrote his second major work, " Philosophische Untersuchungen" (published posthumously in 1953; Philosophical Investigations); in it, Wittgentein discusses numerous problems and puzzles in the fields semantics, logic, the foundations of mathematics and the nature of consciousness. In 1947 he finally resigned his academic position and moved to Ireland to work on his own. In 1949 he discovered that he had cancer, and in 1951 he moved into his doctor's house in Cambridge, knowing that he had only a few months to live. He died on 29 April 1951.
Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society
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