Yes, but does it matter?
There is an old joke: Why is it hard to move a philosophy department into a different building? Answer: because philosophers are reluctant to abandon their premises. [This is Tim’s own joke [ED]]
And then we come to Ludwig Wittgenstein. Not for him a safe berth in an ivory tower or the security of wealth. All his life he was on the move. The scion of an illustrious family – during his life he was hardly the most celebrated member – he struggled against the expectations of his parents, his teachers, his employers, his students… pretty much everybody. And yet he inspired remarkable loyalty in his friends and amongst the philosophical community in which he found a place.
He wrote ‘one of the most baffling, mysterious, brilliant and difficult works of philosophy ever written’ in Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and declared that he had brought the study of philosophy to an end. Not everybody was convinced, although they were sure he was on to something. As Bertrand Russell put it: “I feel sure it’s a great book, though I do not feel sure it’s right.” Wittgenstein’s life was as confusing as his philosophy, and Anthony Gottlieb has done a wonderful job of setting him in context and following his progress, emotionally and intellectually. Tim was fascinated by the late 19th Century Vienna into which he was born.
Anthony Gottlieb – Yale University Press – £10.99
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