Ludwig Wittgenstein
1889 – 1951 Austrian-British philosopher
The philosopher who twice transformed the study of language and meaning.
- Religion
- Of Jewish descent and raised Catholic, he held an intense but unorthodox spirituality outside any church, seeing much of religion as beyond words.
- Affiliations
- Professor at Cambridge. No secret society.
Wittgenstein argued in the Tractatus that the limits of language are the limits of thought, then later rejected his own view for one of language as a set of social games. Both phases reshaped philosophy. He gave away a fortune and lived simply, tormented and brilliant.
Connections
- mentor of Bertrand Russell — Russell recognized his genius and mentored him at Cambridge.
- student of Bertrand Russell — Wittgenstein studied under him at Cambridge before surpassing him.
In the timeline
- 1953 Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations published mentioned