Ludwig Wittgenstein

1. Ludwig Wittgenstein By Stephen Church

2. Interesting facts • Wittgenstein was born only 6 days after Adolf Hitler was born, and they were born in cities near each other in Austria-Hungary. • Actually went to the same school as Hitler for a period of time. • Wittgenstein was from Vienna in a time that also produced Sigmund Freud and Erwin Schrödinger and many other significant people of the time. • Like his brother, Wittgenstein was a homosexual. • He served on the front-lines in World War I and was later a prisoner of war. • Bertrand Russell encouraged Wittgenstein to enter the field of Philosophy by in January 1912, and Russell predicted that Wittgenstein, who was already in a severe depression, would commit suicide by February of 1914, but he was wrong. • He is credited with inventing Truth Tables, that are used in Algebra and Calculus.

3. Early life • He was born on April 26th, 1889 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. • Ludwig’s dad Karl was a steel tycoon and was often compared to Andrew Carnegie • His parents, mainly his dad, were very involved with the arts in Austria-Hungary, by financing the city’s art museum and musicians would also frequently come to the Wittgenstein’s house to play, for example Johannes Brahms. • Even though he had some Jewish Ancestors, Wittgenstein was a practicing Catholic, just like his parents • 3 of his brothers committed suicide due to severe depression

4. Early Life Cont’d • Many scientists believe that Wittgenstein had a small form of Autism and Schizoid Personality Disorder, which meant he had no interest in social relationships. This disorder is believed to root from the uneasy situation at home that led to his 3 brothers committing suicide. • Despite having some Jewish ancestry, Wittgenstein is considered to have had anti-Semitic views • Studied engineering in Berlin and later in Manchester around 1906 • Wittgenstein considered David Pinsent to be his first and only friend. They met in 1912. • Pinsent is seen as the first of four men that Wittgenstein fell in love with and one of two that he had a relationship with.

5. Influences on him • Otto Weininger was a student who had gone to the same school as Wittgenstein and committed suicide and became an almost cult figure, and Wittgenstein respected him, because Wittgenstein was ashamed that he had not killed himself and Wittgenstein saw Weininger’s suicide as an ethical thing to do because of how hopeless the world was. • The biggest influence on Wittgenstein's life and his philosophies was the Philosopher Bertrand Russell • Wittgenstein and Russell first met in 1910 when Russell was teaching classes at Cambridge and Wittgenstein was and Engineering student there. • Russell considered Wittgenstein to be a genius and tried to motivate Wittgenstein in his academic development. • Russell’s idea of Logical Atomism was the idea that Wittgenstein centered his first book about titled Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

6. Teaching Career • Wittgenstein’s first teaching job was as an elementary school teacher in 1920. • Students who later recalled their experiences said that Wittgenstein hit boys with canes, boxed their ears, and even pulled some of the girl’s hair. • After Completing his PhD by turning in the Tractatus as his thesis, Wittgenstein was appointed to be a lecturer and was made a fellow of Trinity College. • Wittgenstein became the Chair of Philosophy at Cambridge in 1939 and soon after received his British Citizenship • He resigned as a Professor in 1947 to focus more on his writings.

7. Hot Poker incident • Wittgenstein joined the Moral Sciences and Club and Apostle in 1912, which was a discussion group for students and teachers at Cambridge. • One time, in 1946, during a heated debate with Karl Popper, a fellow Austro-Hungarian, about whether there were philosophical problems. • Wittgenstein, a some point, became infuriated and proceeded to pick up and start waving a hot poker at Popper demanding Popper to tell him of a moral rule. • Wittgenstein was told by Russell, who happened to be there, to sit down, and Wittgenstein promptly left the room.

8. Notable Philosophical Beliefs • Private Language Argument • This argument was introduced by Wittgenstein and he used it most frequently in his book Philosophical Investigations • The Argument is basically saying that a private language would be a language incapable of being translated into a normal language, not just any language that has yet to be translated. • Language-Game • This concept represents simple examples of language use and the actions that language is used in. • This term stands for forms of words that are simpler than the language itself. • This concept was originated to express that speaking a language is a part of everyday life.

9. Notable Philosophical Beliefs Cont’d • Family Resemblance • This idea mainly retains to things that may be seen as related by one essential common feature that could be connected by many overlapping similarities, but no one feature is common to all. • Wittgenstein’s philosophy of mathematics • He considered this to be his biggest contribution to philosophy. • States that there is no definite mathematical truth and no reference of mathematical truth.

10. Philosophical Movements Associated with • Analytic Philosophy • Linguistic Turn • Wittgenstein Considered to be one of the founders of this movement. • Logical Atomism • The idea that the world consists of ultimate logical facts • Logical Positivism • The idea that combines the concepts of: observations being used for knowledge in the world and a version of rationalism using math and linguistics similar to in epistemology.

11. Major Works • Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus • Wittgenstein finished it in 1918 but the book wasn’t published until 1921. • It is the only published work by Wittgenstein during his lifetime. • Wittgenstein wrote this book while being a prisoner of war during World War I. • Major Points • “The world is everything that is the case”. • A logical Picture of facts is a thought. • A thought is a proposition with sense. • Whereof one cannot speak, one must pass over in silence.

12. Major Works Cont’d • Philosophical Investigations • This book was published 2 years after Wittgenstein died • This book is composed of 700 short observations • In this work Wittgenstein discusses many puzzles and problems in various fields. • Relates to the nature of language and math symbols. • Wittgenstein died on April 29th 1951 from prostate cancer in Cambridge, England.