History Creator / LudwigWittgenstein

-->--'''Ludwig Wittgenstein''', ''On Certainty''

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was one of the foremost philosophers of The20thCentury. He made major contributions to formal logic, the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind and, to a more controversial extent, the philosophy of mathematics. He was notorious for [[ThePerfectionist holding back his work from publication until he got it right]]; in his own lifetime, his entire published output consisted of one book, one book review, an article, and a children's dictionary. The book, ''Tractatus Logic-Philosophicus'', outlined Wittgenstein's theory of the relationship of language to reality. In his own words, "Its whole meaning could be summed up somewhat as follows: what can be said at all can be said clearly; and whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent".

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was one of the foremost philosophers of the 20th century. He made major contributions to formal logic, the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind and, to a more controversial extent, the philosophy of mathematics. He was notorious for [[ThePerfectionist holding back his work from publication until he got it right]]; in his own lifetime, his entire published output consisted of one book, one book review, an article, and a children's dictionary. The book, ''Tractatus Logic-Philosophicus'', outlined Wittgenstein's theory of the relationship of language to reality. In his own words, "Its whole meaning could be summed up somewhat as follows: what can be said at all can be said clearly; and whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent".

Wittgenstein was famously [[BunnyEarsLawyer eccentric]], at least by the standards of his own time and place (which was mostly Cambridge, England in the early 20th century). He [[BrutalHonesty hated the rituals of polite conversation]], wore the same clothes all the time (which he did by having several identical shirts, several identical tweed jackets, several identical pairs of trousers, etc., which he chose with extreme care); preferred if possible to eat the same thing at all meals, and had a very austere, almost monk-like lifestyle. He could be a loyal friend, even if he drove his friends mad with his insistence on honesty. He once called around to several friends' houses late at night to "confess" that he'd misled them into believing that his family wasn't Jewish (none of them cared one way or the other and most were annoyed that he'd disrupted their evening). He even had lovers, although it was illegal to be a sexually active gay man in early 20th century England;[[note]]Technically, Wittgenstein appears to have been gay-leaning bisexual, having had at least two genuine affairs with women. The point still stands, however.[[/note]] Wittgenstein seems to have been less bothered by the illegality than by his wish to be a CelibateHero (he wasn't one, he just would have liked to be one).

He had a passion for CrimeFiction and was quite a connoisseur of it, rating the obscure LA pulp writer [[http://www.blackmaskmagazine.com/bm_03.html Norbert Davis]] higher than Creator/AgathaChristie, whose work he couldn't stand. He also loved Hollywood movies, developed a serious crush on Betty Hutton, and - appropriately for a philosopher who specialised in language - loved [[JiveTurkey hipster slang]], frequently [[ThrowItIn dropping into his conversation]] phrases like "Hot ziggety!" and "Let us case the joint." He was extremely musical and could whistle entire classical works from memory. (His older brother Paul was a concert pianist who lost his right arm in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and [[HandicappedBadass went back to his concert career anyway]], commissioning many piano concertos for the left hand, including the famous one by Music/MauriceRavel.)

->''I am sitting with a philosopher in the garden; he says again and again "I know that that's a tree", pointing to a tree that is near us. Someone else arrives and hears this, and I tell them: "This fellow isn't insane. We are only doing philosophy."''
-->--'''Ludwig Wittgenstein'''

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was one of the foremost philosophers of the 20th century. He made major contributions to formal logic, the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind and, to a more controversial extent, the philosophy of mathematics. He was notorious for [[ThePerfectionist holding back his work from publication until he got it right]]; in his own lifetime, his entire published output consisted of one book, one book review, an article and a children's dictionary. The book, ''Tractatus Logic-Philosophicus'', outlined Wittgenstein's theory of the relationship of language to reality, in which he famously asserted that the logical structure of language mirrored the structure of reality, that whatever could be said at all could be said clearly, that statements about ethics were meaningless, and that "what we cannot talk about we must consign to silence".

He later came to think that this theory was completely mistaken, in that it didn't account for the many different types of utterance that were not statements about the world but orders, exclamations, or what the later philosopher [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.L._Austin J.L. Austin]] would call "speech acts", and he spent the rest of his career making copious notes towards a second book that would not so much outline a theory as describe the way that philosophical problems can arise from confusions in the use of language. A version of this book was published after his death as ''Philosophical Investigations''.

Ludwig was for a while a schoolmate of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, although there's no evidence that they ever met. He studied engineering in Berlin and Manchester. He soon became fascinated with philosophy and in 1911 he went to Cambridge to study under Creator/BertrandRussell, who initially regarded him as annoying but came to see him as a genius. Later, when Wittgenstein openly disapproved of Russell's freethinking views about marriage and politics, Russell in turn started to regard Wittgenstein as an InsufferableGenius. Wittgenstein served in the Austrian army during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI (he immediately volunteered when the war broke out, and was decorated several times for his bravery). After the war was over he wrote the ''Tractatus'' and gave up philosophy, then made one of the world's worst career decisions by going off to work as a primary school teacher, a job for which he could [[HairTriggerTemper hardly have been more unsuited]]. Although the ''Tractatus'' was an immediate hit in the world of philosophy, Wittgenstein came to believe that the theory embedded in it was seriously flawed and in 1929 he finally yielded to persuasion and returned to Cambridge to teach philosophy at graduate level. He died there in 1951, of prostate cancer for which, StoicWoobie that he was, he'd refused treatment. His LastWords were "Tell them I've had a wonderful life!"

Wittgenstein was famously [[BunnyEarsLawyer eccentric]], at least by the standards of his own time and place (which was mostly Cambridge, England in the early 20th century). He [[BrutalHonesty hated the rituals of polite conversation]], wore the same clothes all the time (which he did by having several identical shirts, several identical tweed jackets, several identical pairs of trousers, etc. which he chose with extreme care); preferred if possible to eat the same thing at all meals, and had a very austere, almost monk-like lifestyle. He could be a loyal friend, even if he drove his friends mad with his insistence on honesty. He once called around to several friends' houses late at night to "confess" that he'd misled them into believing that his family wasn't Jewish (none of them cared one way or the other and most were annoyed that he'd disrupted their evening). He even had lovers, although it was illegal to be a sexually active gay man in early 20th century England;[[note]]Technically, Wittgenstein appears to have been gay-leaning bisexual, having had at least two genuine affairs with women. The point still stands, however.[[/note]] Wittgenstein seems to have been less bothered by the illegality than by his wish to be a CelibateHero (he wasn't one, he just would have liked to be one).

He had a passion for CrimeFiction and was quite a connoisseur of it, rating the obscure LA pulp writer [[http://www.blackmaskmagazine.com/bm_03.html Norbert Davis]] higher than Creator/AgathaChristie, whose work he couldn't stand. He also loved Hollywood movies, developed a serious crush on Betty Hutton, and - appropriately for a philosopher who specialised in language - loved [[JiveTurkey hipster slang]], frequently [[ThrowItIn dropping into his conversation]] phrases like "Hot ziggety!" and "Let us case the joint." He was extremely musical and was able to whistle entire classical works from memory. (His older brother Paul was a concert pianist who lost his right arm in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and [[HandicappedBadass went back to his concert career anyway]], commissioning many piano concertos for the left hand, including the famous one by Music/MauriceRavel.)

Wittgenstein was famously [[BunnyEarsLawyer eccentric]], at least by the standards of his own time and place (which was mostly Cambridge, England in the early 20th century). He [[BrutalHonesty hated the rituals of polite conversation]], wore the same clothes all the time (which he did by having several identical shirts, several identical tweed jackets, several identical pairs of trousers, etc. which he chose with extreme care); preferred if possible to eat the same thing at all meals, and had a very austere, almost monk-like lifestyle. He could be a loyal friend, even if he drove his friends mad with his insistence on honesty. He once called around to several friends' houses late at night to "confess" that he'd misled them into believing that his family wasn't Jewish (none of them cared one way or the other and most were annoyed that he'd disrupted their evening). He even had lovers, although it was illegal to be a sexually active gay manin early 20th century England;[[note]]Technically, Wittgenstein appears to have been gay-leaning bisexual, having had at least two genuine affairs with women. The point still stands, however.[[/note]] Wittgenstein seems to have been less bothered by the illegality than by his wish to be a CelibateHero (he wasn't one, he just would have liked to be one).

Wittgenstein was famously [[BunnyEarsLawyer eccentric]], at least by the standards of his own time and place (which was mostly Cambridge, England in the early 20th century). He [[BrutalHonesty hated the rituals of polite conversation]], wore the same clothes all the time (which he did by having several identical shirts, several identical tweed jackets, several identical pairs of trousers, etc. which he chose with extreme care); preferred if possible to eat the same thing at all meals, and had a very austere, almost monk-like lifestyle. He could be a loyal friend, even if he drove his friends mad with his insistence on honesty. He once called around to several friends' houses late at night to "confess" that he'd misled them into believing that his family wasn't Jewish (none of them cared one way or the other and most were annoyed that he'd disrupted their evening). He even had lovers, although it was illegal to be a sexually active gay man in early 20th century England; Wittgenstein seems to have been less bothered by the illegality than by his wish to be a CelibateHero (he wasn't one, he just would have liked to be one).

He had a passion for CrimeFiction and was quite a connoisseur of it, rating the obscure LA pulp writer [[http://www.blackmaskmagazine.com/bm_03.html Norbert Davis]] higher than Creator/AgathaChristie, whose work he couldn't stand. He also loved Hollywood movies, developed a serious crush on Betty Hutton, and - appropriately for a philosopher who specialised in language - loved [[JiveTurkey hipster slang]], frequently [[ThrowItIn dropping into his conversation]] phrases like "Hot ziggety!" and "Let us case the joint." He was extremely musical and was able to whistle entire classical works from memory. (His older brother Paul was a concert pianist who lost his right arm in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and [[HandicappedBadass went back to his concert career anyway]], commissioning many piano concertos for the left hand, including the famous one by Creator/MauriceRavel.)

Ludwig was for a while a schoolmate of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, although there's no evidence that they ever met. He studied engineering in Berlin and Manchester. He soon became fascinated with philosophy and in 1911 he went to Cambridge to study under Creator/BertrandRussell, who initially regarded him as annoying but came to see him as a genius. Later, when Wittgenstein openly disapproved of Russell's freethinking views about marriage and politics, Russell in turn started to regard Wittgenstein as an InsufferableGenius. Wittgenstein served in the Austrian army during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, (he immediately volunteered when the war broke out, and was decorated several times for his bravery). After the war was over he wrote the ''Tractatus'' and gave up philosophy, then made one of the world's worst career decisions by going off to work as a primary school teacher, a job for which he could [[HairTriggerTemper hardly have been more unsuited]]. Although the ''Tractatus'' was an immediate hit in the world of philosophy, Wittgenstein came to believe that the theory embedded in it was seriously flawed and in 1929 he finally yielded to persuasion and returned to Cambridge to teach philosophy at graduate level. He died there in 1951, of prostate cancer for which, StoicWoobie that he was, he'd refused treatment. His LastWords were "Tell them I've had a wonderful life!"

Ludwig was for a while a schoolmate of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, although there's no evidence that they ever met. He studied engineering in Berlin and Manchester. He soon became fascinated with philosophy and in 1911 he went to Cambridge to study under Creator/BertrandRussell, who initially regarded him as annoying but came to see him as a genius. Later, when Wittgenstein openly disapproved of Russell's freethinking views about marriage and politics, Russell in turn started to regard Wittgenstein as an InsufferableGenius. Wittgenstein served in the Austrian army during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and after the war was over he wrote the ''Tractatus'' and gave up philosophy, then made one of the world's worst career decisions by going off to work as a primary school teacher, a job for which he could [[HairTriggerTemper hardly have been more unsuited]]. Although the ''Tractatus'' was an immediate hit in the world of philosophy, Wittgenstein came to believe that the theory embedded in it was seriously flawed and in 1929 he finally yielded to persuasion and returned to Cambridge to teach philosophy at graduate level. He died there in 1951, of prostate cancer for which, StoicWoobie that he was, he'd refused treatment. His LastWords were "Tell them I've had a wonderful life!"

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was one of the foremost philosophers of the 20th century. He made major contributions to formal logic, the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind and, to a more controversial extent, the philosophy of mathematics. He was notorious for [[ThePerfectionist holding back his work from publication until he got it right]]; in his own lifetime, his entire published output consisted of one book, one book review, an article and a children's dictionary. The book, ''Tractatus Logic-Philosophicus'', outlined Wittgenstein's theory of the relationship of language to reality, in which he famously asserted that the logical structure of language mirrored the structure of reality, that whatever could be said at all could be said clearly, that statements about ethics were meaningless, and that "what we cannot talk about we must consign to silence".

He had a passion for CrimeFiction and was quite a connoisseur of it, rating the obscure LA pulp writer [[http://www.blackmaskmagazine.com/bm_03.html Norbert Davis]] higher than Creator/AgathaChristie, whose work he couldn't stand. He also loved Hollywood movies, developed a serious crush on Betty Hutton, and - appropriately for a philosopher who specialised in language - loved [[JiveTurkey hipster slang]], frequently [[ThrowItIn dropping into his conversation]] phrases like "Hot ziggety!" and "Let us case the joint." He was extremely musical and was able to whistle entire classical works from memory. (His older brother Paul was a concert pianist who lost his right arm in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and [[HandicappedBadass went back to his concert career anyway]], commissioning many piano concertos for the left hand.)

Wittgenstein was famously [[BunnyEarsLawyer eccentric]], at least by the standards of his own time and place (which was mostly Cambridge, England in the early 20th century). He [[BrutalHonesty hated the rituals of polite conversation]], wore the same clothes all the time (although he chose them with extreme care), preferred if possible to eat the same thing at all meals, and had a very austere, almost monk-like lifestyle. He could be a loyal friend, even if he drove his friends mad with his insistence on honesty. He once called around to several friends' houses late at night to "confess" that he'd misled them into believing that his family wasn't Jewish (none of them cared one way or the other and most were annoyed that he'd disrupted their evening). He even had lovers, although it was illegal to be a sexually active gay man in early 20th century England; Wittgenstein seems to have been less bothered by the illegality than by his wish to be a CelibateHero (he wasn't one, he just would have liked to be one).

Ludwig was for a while a schoolmate of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, although there's no evidence that they ever met. He studied engineering in Berlin and Manchester. He soon became fascinated with philosophy and in 1911 he went to Cambridge to study under Creator/BertrandRussell, who initially regarded him as annoying but came to see him as a genius. Later, when Wittgenstein openly disapproved of Russell's freethinking views about marriage and politics, Russell in turn started to regard Wittgenstein as an InsufferableGenius. Wittgenstein served in the Austrian army during WorldWarOne and after the war was over he wrote the ''Tractatus'' and gave up philosophy, then made one of the world's worst career decisions by going off to work as a primary school teacher, a job for which he could [[HairTriggerTemper hardly have been more unsuited]]. Although the ''Tractatus'' was an immediate hit in the world of philosophy, Wittgenstein came to believe that the theory embedded in it was seriously flawed and in 1929 he finally yielded to persuasion and returned to Cambridge to teach philosophy at graduate level. He died there in 1951, of prostate cancer for which, StoicWoobie that he was, he'd refused treatment. His LastWords were "Tell them I've had a wonderful life!"

He had a passion for CrimeFiction and was quite a connoisseur of it, rating the obscure LA pulp writer [[http://www.blackmaskmagazine.com/bm_03.html Norbert Davis]] higher than Creator/AgathaChristie, whose work he couldn't stand. He also loved Hollywood movies, developed a serious crush on Betty Hutton, and - appropriately for a philosopher who specialised in language - loved [[JiveTurkey hipster slang]], frequently [[ThrowItIn dropping into his conversation]] phrases like "Hot ziggety!" and "Let us case the joint." He was extremely musical and was able to whistle entire classical works from memory. (His older brother Paul was a concert pianist who lost his right arm in WorldWarOne and [[HandicappedBadass went back to his concert career anyway]], commissioning many piano concertos for the left hand.)

He had a passion for CrimeFiction and was quite a connoisseur of it, rating the obscure LA pulp writer [[http://www.blackmaskmagazine.com/bm_03.html Norbert Davis]] higher than AgathaChristie, whose work he couldn't stand. He also loved Hollywood movies, developed a serious crush on Betty Hutton, and - appropriately for a philosopher who specialised in language - loved [[JiveTurkey hipster slang]], frequently [[ThrowItIn dropping into his conversation]] phrases like "Hot ziggety!" and "Let us case the joint." He was extremely musical and was able to whistle entire classical works from memory. (His older brother Paul was a concert pianist who lost his right arm in WorldWarOne and [[HandicappedBadass went back to his concert career anyway]], commissioning many piano concertos for the left hand.)

* ''{{Logicomix}}'', a 2009 graphic novel.