How to Keep Track of the Wittgensteinian World

A lively worldwide community revolves around Wittgensteinian studies. Without aiming to completeness, we tried to put together an accurate and up-to-date list of resources that may help Wittgenstein scholars and aficionados—beginners and veterans alike—navigate this landscape and keep track of what happens in it.

Getting acquainted with Wittgenstein’s philosophy is hard—particularly because our philosopher is not the most beginner-friendly author out there. However, what is even trickier is finding one’s way about in the brouhaha of the Wittgenstein-related things happening in the world, having an idea of how to navigate between this and that event, sorting out the relevant ones… There are a few hundred researchers across the world working on his philosophy at countless research institutions, research groups in various departments within universities, local and international communities, independent societies, and the numerous events these bodies organize, such as conferences devoted to his work, workshops, winter/summer schools, symposia, talks etc. Some of these events aim at an advanced familiarity, whereas some are more beginner-friendly. Some concentrate on Wittgenstein’s philosophy per se, and others are concerned with applying his philosophy to various areas and topics.

In this introduction concerning ‘knowing one’s way about’ in the Wittgensteinian world, I aim to provide some possible strategies for navigating the rabbit hole of Wittgensteinian events that, in one way or another, may be of interest to scholars interested in Wittgenstein. Surely, an exhaustive summary of everything happening about Wittgenstein in the world is a far-fetched goal. However, one can still have one’s calendar packed with Wittgenstein-related events and stay tuned to what to expect in the future!

Searching Out With Some Strategies

To be clear from the beginning, there are too many events happening in different places around the world, and it is nearly impossible to stay informed about all events on time, not to mention being able to participate in all. The following map might give an idea of the density of the Wittgenstein network worldwide.

A few events are held annually and some of those are especially suited to newcomers and anyone interested in Wittgenstein. Other events are more specialized, sometimes circulated within a research group or other community. The ones organized by institutions that are not known to specialize in Wittgenstein are especially hard to keep track of. Most definitely, events of that sort will not end up in your email box!

The good thing is that, although it is hard to stay tuned to all Wittgenstein-related activities, many of these events are welcoming to anyone who might be interested, are not necessarily highly technical in a philosophical sense, (with few exceptions) do not require a registration process or a membership to any group and are free of charge. In addition, there are also occasions where the events are recorded, and the recordings are shared via the websites of the respective communities, again, publicly available most of the time. The hardest part is to get informed about them through proper channels. Surely, checking the websites of communities focused solely on Wittgenstein on a regular basis will get you updated to a certain degree. Still, no email subscription, social media pages, or websites will guarantee an exhaustive list of what is happening worldwide concerning Wittgenstein’s philosophy. One has to combine all of these, and there are a few strategies to make such a compendium to get updated about what is taking place, where, and when. The following points might give a few ideas for navigating the fuss about Wittgenstein. The first two strategies are easier to implement and pay back fast, whereas the last two are more demanding and may only be suitable if you are dedicated to finding something further than the common events. I divided the strategies respectively and will provide relevant resources to all these points at the end of this post.

‘Tried and true’ strategies

A first strategy is rather traditional: subscribing to relevant email lists. The first step is to subscribe to the email lists of the Wittgenstein-centred communities, as this generally is the fastest and most direct way to stay tuned. Also, following such communities through social media happens to be very useful. Still, another helpful thing to do is look for research groups, academic societies, and communities devoted to broader subjects—such as the history of logic, philosophy of language, etc.—that will intersect with the philosophical topics Wittgenstein wrote about or fields he had a considerable impact on. Although this will not necessarily ensure that one gets informed merely about Wittgenstein events but also many other topics, it still helps find relevant events. Groups that are organizing events on such broad topics sometimes devote parts of the events to Wittgenstein.
Another strategy is using the search engines of the websites designed by institutions specifically for philosophy events or, again, the humanities departments of universities that are known to house related researchers. To track upcoming events, searching for ‘Wittgenstein’ or using some other keywords like the central concepts of Wittgenstein’s philosophy, such as ‘forms of life’ or ‘language-games’, will do most of the time. The PhilEvents page which collects events related to all kinds of philosophy topics all over the world is a very useful event database to perform such a search (see: https://philevents.org).

‘Also try these’ strategies

A somewhat more intense strategy is to follow the work of well-known Wittgenstein scholars. Some individual researchers devote much of their research to Wittgenstein, and they generally present their work at conferences and through personal websites. Some specifically focus on a single text, such as the Tractatus, while others are interested in Wittgenstein in a broader sense. It is a good idea to stay updated through their personal websites or the websites of the departments these scholars are part of. These websites generally include an ‘upcoming events’ section, which is useful for getting informed. Additionally, they might also include recordings/transcriptions of past events and annual activities.
The last one is to follow independent or university-supported research groups concerned with Wittgensteinian philosophy. Not only permanent research groups but also temporarily funded research projects on Wittgenstein are often informative about upcoming events. Such groups generally have separate websites and sometimes communicate via the webpages of the relevant department of a university. They also often organize annual events.

As an example, following all these steps for the summer period of 2025 results in the event calendar below:

As can be seen, there are always enough occasions to keep oneself occupied with Wittgenstein. This tentative calendar is for the summer 2025 period, but a similar amount of activity also occurs in the other times of the year. The following links might come in handy—not only for upcoming events but also for the websites of research groups, individual researchers, societies and other useful things.

Recurring events

Annual International Wittgenstein Symposium (organized by ALWS)
Annual Nordic Wittgenstein Society Conference
Annual Wittgenstein and Hegel – Reevaluation of Difference Conference
Annual Wittgenstein & Women International Conference/Workshop
Annual Norwegian-French-Austrian Wittgenstein Seminar
Annual British Wittgenstein Society Lecture
Annual Ludwig Wittgenstein Summer School (organized by ILWS and the University of Klagenfurt)
Annual Internatinal Klagenfurt Wittgenstein Workshop (organized by ILWS, the University of Klagenfurt and the Institution for Philosophy)
Annual Tokyo Wittgenstein Workshop (organized by Tokyo Metropolitan University)
Annual ILWG-Bergen Workshop (organized by ILWS and the University of Bergen)
Monthly History of Logic Seminar (organized by Federico II University of Naples)
Monthly Sorbonne Wittgenstein Seminar
Monthly Young Network for Wittgensteinian Philosophy Talk
Weekly von Wright and Wittgenstein Research Seminar

Websites of Wittgenstein-related communities

Online communities

International communities

Local communities

Research groups

Wittgenstein and Early Analytic Philosophy Research Group (Univeristy of Southampton)
The Wittgenstein Research Group (Univeristy of Vienna)
The Wittgenstein Research Group (University of Bergen)
The Wittgenstein Research Group (Brenner-Archiv, Innsbruck)
‘A Wittgensteinian Approach to Moral and Political Issues’ Research Group (KU Leuven, Belgium)

Useful links for postings of upcoming Wittgenstein events

University of Bergen: https://www.uib.no/en/rg/wittgenstein/48502/activities
KU Leuven: https://hiw.kuleuven.be/ripple/events
The Nova Institute of Philosophy: https://ifilnova.pt/en/research-groups/grupo-wittgenstein-de-lisboa/
University of Chicago: https://voices.uchicago.edu/wittgenstein/
Center for German Philosophy: https://centerforgermanphilosophy.uchicago.edu/conferences/upcoming/
British Wittgenstein Society: https://www.britishwittgensteinsociety.org/upcoming-events/
- For the recordings of past events also see: https://www.britishwittgensteinsociety.org/conference-videos-all/
University of Helsinki: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/projects/the-von-wright-and-wittgenstein-archives/activities
University of Oxford: https://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/events
University of Southampton: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/philosophy/news/events/2010/03/26_self_and_others_in_wittgenstein.page
University of Vienna: https://wittgenstein.univie.ac.at
Young Network for Wittgensteinian Philosophy: https://sites.google.com/view/young-network-wp/events
University of Leipzig: https://www.sozphil.uni-leipzig.de/institut-fuer-philosophie/fagi
Wittgenstein and Hegel Group: https://wittgensteinhegel2017.weebly.com
Center for Post-Kantian Philosophy: https://cpkp.net/events/
University of Innsbruck: https://www.uibk.ac.at/de/brenner-archiv/newsletter/38-25/aktuelles/#
Wittgenstein Initiative: https://wittgenstein-initiative.com/category/events/
Nordic Wittgenstein Review: https://www.nordicwittgensteinreview.com/announcement
The annual Norwegian-French-Austrian Wittgenstein Seminar: https://wab.uib.no/ojs/index.php/agora-wab/issue/view/195
University of Melbourne: https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/school-of-culture-and-communication/our-research/groups-and-resource-centre/critical-research-association-melbourne/events
Swansea Universtiy: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/press-office/news-events/news/2022/06/swansea-university-celebrates-the-life-and-work-of-ludwig-wittgenstein-with-series-of-events.php
University of Padova: https://www.hegelpd.it/category/newsevents/
Central European Network for Teaching and Research in Academic Liaison: https://www.central-network.eu/news-events/workshops/past-workshops/wittgenstein-and-hegel-on-the-foundations-of-logic/
University of Naples: https://sites.google.com/view/holnaples/current-series
Ordinary Language Philosophy and Literary Studies Blog: https://olponline.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/cfp-wittgenstein-and-pragmatism-in-helsinki-finland-abstracts-due-feb-12-2015/
Tokyo Metropolitan University: https://witthegeljapan.weebly.com
The Chinese Wittgenstein Society: https://mqikan.cqvip.com/article/ArticleDetail?id=7104806077
Wittgenstein & Woman International Group: https://wittgensteinwomen.wordpress.com/wittgenstein-and-feminism/
Sorbonne Center for Contemporary Philosophy (PhiCo) Wittgenstein Seminar Group: https://philosophie.pantheonsorbonne.fr/evenements/wittgenstein
University of Strasbourg: https://philo.unistra.fr/actualites-agenda/agenda/evenements-en-cours-et-a-venir/

A few interesting Wittgenstein-related personal webpages

About the author

Onur Canpolat

M. Onur Canpolat is a historian and philosopher of science interested in the history of social sciences, logic, and analytic philosophy, particularly the role Wittgenstein played within these histories. He is a PhD candidate at Istanbul Technical University, writing his thesis on the historical connections between Wittgenstein and Kurt Gödel. Before he stepped into the Wittgensteinian world, he obtained his B.A. in architecture and design. He is a lifelong drawing/painting enthusiast.