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Project:About Wittgenstein: Difference between revisions
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Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (Vienna, 26 April 1889 - Cambridge, 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who mostly worked and taught at the University of Cambridge. He’s widely considered one of the greatest philosophers of the 20<sup>th</sup> century. | Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (Vienna, 26 April 1889 - Cambridge, 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who mostly worked and taught at the University of Cambridge. He’s widely considered one of the greatest philosophers of the 20<sup>th</sup> century. | ||
Born into a wealthy bourgeois family, he soon became acquainted with the most relevant figures of Viennese “fin de siècle” culture (J. Brahms, G. Klimt, G. Mahler, K. Kraus). He completed his studies in mechanical engineering in Manchester, where he developed a keen interest in the works on logic and philosophy of mathematics by Gottlob Frege (1948-1925) and Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). He therefore moved to Cambridge in 1911 to attend the lessons of | Born into a wealthy bourgeois family, he soon became acquainted with the most relevant figures of Viennese “fin de siècle” culture (J. Brahms, G. Klimt, G. Mahler, K. Kraus). He completed his studies in mechanical engineering in Manchester, where he developed a keen interest in the works on logic and philosophy of mathematics by Gottlob Frege (1948-1925) and Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). He therefore moved to Cambridge in 1911 to attend the lessons of Russell, who immediately noticed his sharp perspicacity, as well as his troubled attitude. | ||
Later, he spent some time (1913-1914) in Skjolden (Norway) where his first works on logic appeared. At the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted as a volunteer in the Austrian army. The war represented for Wittgenstein one of the most revealing experiences of his life. Amid the harshness of the conflict, his first and only published work – the ''Tractatus logico-philosophicus'', completed during his imprisonment in Cassino (1918-1919) – came to light. The book was published in a first German edition, disapproved by the author, in 1921 and later in the English translation by Wittgenstein’s friend Frank Ramsey (1903-1930) in 1922. | Later, he spent some time (1913-1914) in Skjolden (Norway) where his first works on logic appeared. At the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted as a volunteer in the Austrian army. The war represented for Wittgenstein one of the most revealing experiences of his life. Amid the harshness of the conflict, his first and only published work – the ''Tractatus logico-philosophicus'', completed during his imprisonment in Cassino (1918-1919) – came to light. The book was published in a first German edition, disapproved by the author, in 1921 and later in the English translation by Wittgenstein’s friend Frank Ramsey (1903-1930) in 1922. | ||
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WITTGENSTEIN'S THOUGHT'S QUICK OUTLINE | WITTGENSTEIN'S THOUGHT'S QUICK OUTLINE | ||
Wittgenstein's philosophical production touched upon numerous critical points in contemporary philosophy. It is not incorrect to say that Wittgenstein's major concern throughout his life remained the investigation on language, but it would be reductive to limit his thought to the philosophy of language and logic. He was stimulated by Weininger, Frege, | Wittgenstein's philosophical production touched upon numerous critical points in contemporary philosophy. It is not incorrect to say that Wittgenstein's major concern throughout his life remained the investigation on language, but it would be reductive to limit his thought to the philosophy of language and logic. He was stimulated by Weininger, Frege, Russell, Spengler…, but also Schopenhauer, Tolstoy, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche. One cannot either reduce his influences to the philosophical area: he was an attentive reader of Goethe and appreciator of German poetry. Music, moreover, and particularly the classical romantic music of the Liederists and Brahms, remained one of his primary sources of inspiration. | ||
At the time of the ''Tractatus'', the influence of the prevailing logicism restricted his consideration of symbolism to a representational and “realist” perspective, although he brought brilliant innovations to coeval philosophy - from the theory of proposition and logical atomism to truth-functionality, from the foundations of ontology and epistemology to the conception of the normativity of natural laws, from reflection on solipsism to ethics, aesthetics and even theology. The logical Wittgenstein of the ''Tractatus'' particularly conditioned the emergence of the neo-positivist philosophy of the so-called Vienna Circle, which was formed in the Austrian capital during the first post-war period and brought together thinkers such as Moritz Schlick (1882-1936), Rudolf Carnap (1891-1970), Otto Neurath (1882-1945) and Friedrich Waismann (1896-1959). | At the time of the ''Tractatus'', the influence of the prevailing logicism restricted his consideration of symbolism to a representational and “realist” perspective, although he brought brilliant innovations to coeval philosophy - from the theory of proposition and logical atomism to truth-functionality, from the foundations of ontology and epistemology to the conception of the normativity of natural laws, from reflection on solipsism to ethics, aesthetics and even theology. The logical Wittgenstein of the ''Tractatus'' particularly conditioned the emergence of the neo-positivist philosophy of the so-called Vienna Circle, which was formed in the Austrian capital during the first post-war period and brought together thinkers such as Moritz Schlick (1882-1936), Rudolf Carnap (1891-1970), Otto Neurath (1882-1945) and Friedrich Waismann (1896-1959). | ||