DOCSLIB.ORG

Ludwig in Fact and Fiction!

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ludwig in Fact and Fiction! ,%vieUJs LUDWIG IN FACT AND FICTION! NICHOLAS GRIFFIN Philosophy I McMaster University Hamilton, ant., Canada L8s 4K1 Brian McGuinness. Wittgenstein: a Life. Vo!. I: Young Ludwig (I88f)-I92I). Paperback: London: Penguin, 1990 (1St ed., 1988). Pp. xiv, 322. £6.99. Ray Monk. Ludwig Wittgenstein: the Duty of Genius. London: Cape; New York: Free P., 1990. Pp. xv, 654. £20.00; U5$29.95. Paperback: New York: Viking Penguin, 1991. U5$15.95. G. H. von Wright, ed. A Portrait of Wittgenstein as a Young Man .from the Diary ofDavid Hume Pinsent I9I2-I9I4. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990. Pp. xxii, II9. £25.00. Bruce Duffy. The World as I Found It. New York: Tichnor and Fields, 1987. Pp. x, 548. U5$19.95. Theodore Redpath. Ludwig Wittgenstein: a Student's Memoir. London: Duck­ worth, 1990. Pp. 109. £12.95. Terry Eagleton. Saints and Scholars. London: Verso, 1987. Pp. 145. £9.95. ittgenstein's life has always attracted a good deal of attention. From W his nrst appearance in Cambridge, before his thought was at all note­ worthy, he was taken to be a remarkable man. The Apostles were fascinated by him: Bloomsbury handled him cautiously but with interest. He became, well before his death-in fact, before he was even middle-aged-a legendary Cambridge eccentric. Elizabeth Anscombe, one of his executors, once declared she would like to have a button which would stop all the interest in Wittgenstein's personal life and leave only the interest in his philosophy: she might as well have been Canute wishing for a button to control the tides. Since Wittgenstein's death, in 1951, disciples, friends, and even bare acquaint­ ances have produced a considerable biographical literature of very uneven I Other frequently cited books are: Wittgenstein, Lmen to Rusul4 Kryn~s, and Moore, ed. G. H. von Wright (Oxford: Blackwell, 1974); Wittgenstein, Notebooks 1914-1910. ed. G. H. von Wright and G. E. M. Anscomb., 2nd ed. (Chicago: U. of Chicago P., 1979); G. H. von Wright, Wittg~nstein (Minneapolis: U. of Minnesota P., 1982); Rush Rhees, cd., Ludwig Wittg~nstein: Personal R~collections (Oxford: Blackwell, 1981). The research for this paper was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council ofCanada. run.lI: the Journal ofthe Bertrand Russell Archives n.s. u (summer 1992): 7C)-1l1 McMaster University Libraty Press ISSN 0036-01631 80 Reviews Reviews 81 quality. Among the best of these pieces is the memoir by Fania Pascal, who As a result, his account loses some of the detail that McGuinness provides, taught Wittgenstein Russian in the 1930s.2 Pascal was more an acquaintance but in return we get a portrait of Wittgenstein of extraordinary vividness. than a friend, and this contributes to the success of her memoir. Fortunately Monk selects his material teIlingly and has a sharp eye for illuminating details she was not a disciple, for there is evidence, going back to the first century and a remarkable capacity for clear, vivid exposition of complex issues. The AD, that disciples don't make good biographers. Pascal's account is good result is a brisk and sharply focused picture of Wittgenstein and his ideas. precisely because she dared to criticize, though ever so respectfully-aware, McGuinness lets his picture build cumulatively, detail by detail; the reader no doubt, that she was facing a cultural mafia ofconsiderable power. The full comes away with the impression that every known fact has been considered. fotce of this mafia was brought to bear on W. W. Bartley's highly controver­ Philosophical biography lags far behind scientific biography when it comes sial Wittgenstein,3 notable for its claimed revelations about Wittgensteins sex to dealing with the subject's work in terms comprehensible to the general life and his penchant for rough trade. Bartley's was the first biographical public, probably because philosophy, unlike science, does not have a strong book on Wittgenstein by an outsider, but it was not a full biography. The tradition of popular writing. Even philosophers like Russell, who took pains closest we had to that was Norman Malcolm's Memoir prefaced by von to popularize their own ideas, have not fared well in this respect with their Wright's "Biographical Sketch".4 Von Wright's "Sketch" has served Witt­ biographers. (Clark, for example, gives Russell's philosophical work only the genstein scholars well (as have his bibliographic essays on Wittgensteins writ­ most superficial attention, and Cohen-Solal does little better with Sartre's.6) ings),5 but it is no substitute for a proper biography. It is the more surprising, therefore, that Wittgenstein, who made no effort to It is somewhat surprising that the first proper biography of a thinker as make his ideas accessible to anyone, should be the subject of two biographies influential as Wittgenstein should appear nearly forty years after his death. which both give serious attention to his work and do so in a way that is His ghost, however, ought to feel that it was worth the wait, for he has been intelligible to those who have no philosophical training. Monk, in particular, admirably served by the two main volumes under review. McGuinness's first is brilliantly successful in explaining Wittgenstein's central ideas and convey­ volume, so far still the only one to be published, first appe~red to wide ing a clear idea of how he came by them and why they were original. His acclaim in 1988. He must have been surprised and alarmed to find that, skills in this respect are in a class of their own. before his second volume was finished, another biography appeared. It is a Both Monk and McGuinness have had unrestricted access to Wittgen­ remarkable tribute to Monk's biography that it can hold its own against one steins Nachlass, especially Wittgenstein's unpublished (and largely unseen) as good as McGuinness's; and it is a similar tribute to McGuinness that we coded notebooks. The contents of these have been much speculated about, still need his second volume even after reading Monk. especially since Bartley's book. The code is a simple one and was intended The two books are rather different. McGuinness is more meditative: he is merely to deter those who might open the book casually. The contents, apt to pause over problems of German translation, for example, and to take accordingly, are not very scandalous-Monk assures us that he has quoted issue with previous commentators. Faced with a conflict of interpretations, "virtually all the remarks that are in any way revealing of Wittgenstein's McGuinness will present the evidence on both sides together with his judg­ emotional, spiritual and sexual life" (p. 585), thus ending years of specula­ ment. Monk, by contrast, enters into discussion only on really important tion-bur they are revealing. matters (as with the controversy over Bartley). His narrative is more com­ For one thing, they plainly show that what was published in 1961 as Note­ pressed. While it takes McGuinness seventy-two pages to get Wittgenstein to books I9I4-I9I6 was a very one-sided selection from Wittgenstein's war-time his arrival in Cambridge in 19II, Monk gets to the same point in thirty-five. notebooks. It was not explained to the reader of the published version that a large number of entries (especially from the later years) had been omitted. The omission of some of these could be justified on the ground that they were of purely biographical interest. Yet their occurrence among the more • "Wittgenstein, a Personal Memoir", Encounter (1973); reprinted in Rhees, pp. 26-62. l (London: Quartet, 1974); see also Bartley's unrepentant 2nd ed. (laSalle, III.: Open Court, obviously philosophical entries (especially those on value and the mystical) 1985). Bartley's book was savaged by (among othets) Bernd Ftohmann in Russel4 n.s. 7 (1987): does change one's impression of some of the philosophical material. From 91-6; David Ramsay Steele, Bartley's American publisher, replied (ibid., pp. 173-4), and Ftoh­ about the middle of the War questions of values and the philosophy of life mann responded (ibid., pp. 174-6). Monk offers a judicious assessment of the issues in an become increasingly important to Wittgenstein. In these areas, it is not so appendix which, for the first time to my knowledge, seriously confronts the question ofwhether Bartley had any evidence for his claims about Wittgenstein's sex life. 4 Norman Malcolm, Ludwig Wittgenstein: a Memoir, 2nd cd. (Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1984). S All arc reprinted (along with three philosophical papers) in von Wright, Wittgenstein. 6 A. Cohen-Solal, Sartre, a Life (New York: Pantheon, 1987). 82 Reviews Reviews 83 clear that Wittgenstein's philosophical remarks can be as thoroughly segre­ looms in on Monk's Wittgenstein: a sense that his life was a failure, that no gated from his private reflections as the editors of the Notebooks supposed. one understood his philosophy, that the effect of his teaching on those he Whether or not they were right to exclude the personal remarks, they were taught was appalling, that there was some fundamental lack of "decency" in certainly wrong not to tell the reader of their existence; and there is scope his life, that he had no one to love. now for a complete edition of the war-time notebooks-although one sus­ The one weakness ofWittgenstein which is revealed (it seems inadvertent­ pects that, between them, Monk and McGuinness may have got all the good ly) by McGuinness is his penchant for disciples. He seems generally to have bits not previously published. avoided the company of those he couldn't dominate, in favour of those who The material now published from the notebooks does change very sub­ would do as he told them, look after him, accept his leadership and not stantially our view of Wittgenstein's thinking at this critical time of his life.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Wittgenstein in Exile
    Wittgenstein in Exile “My thoughts are one hundred per cent Hebraic.” -Wittgenstein to Drury, 19491 Wittgenstein was born in 1889 into one of the richest families in Central Europe. He lived and learned at home, in Vienna, until 1903, when he was 14. We have no record of his thoughts about the turn of the last century, but it is unlikely that it seemed very significant to him. The Viennese of the time had little inclination to consider the possibilities of change, and the over-ripe era in which Wittgenstein grew up did not really end until Austria-Hungary’s defeat, in World War I, and subsequent dismantling. But the family in which Wittgenstein grew up apparently felt that European culture had already come to an end in the 1840’s. And Wittgenstein himself felt he belonged to an era that had vanished with the death of the composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856).2 Somewhere in the middle of the Nineteenth Century there was an important change into the contemporary era, of which Wittgenstein did not feel a part. Wittgenstein’s understanding of history, and his consequent self-understanding in relation to his times, was deeply influenced by Oswald Spengler, who in 1918 published The Decline of the West [Der Untergang des Abenlandes]. This book, expanded to a second volume in 1922, and revised in 1923, became a best-seller in post-war Europe. Wittgenstein made numerous references to it in 1930-1931, and acknowledged Spengler as one of his ten noteworthy influences.3 According to Spengler, cultures grow, flower, and deteriorate naturally, according to their own internal form, much as a human being does.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein on Aesthetics and Philosophy
    Wittgenstein on aesthetics and philosophy Article Accepted Version Schroeder, S. (2019) Wittgenstein on aesthetics and philosophy. Revista de Historiografía, 32. pp. 11-21. ISSN 2445-0057 doi: https://doi.org/10.20318/revhisto.2019.4891 Available at http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/84464/ It is advisable to refer to the publisher’s version if you intend to cite from the work. See Guidance on citing . Identification Number/DOI: https://doi.org/10.20318/revhisto.2019.4891 <https://doi.org/10.20318/revhisto.2019.4891> All outputs in CentAUR are protected by Intellectual Property Rights law, including copyright law. Copyright and IPR is retained by the creators or other copyright holders. Terms and conditions for use of this material are defined in the End User Agreement . www.reading.ac.uk/centaur CentAUR Central Archive at the University of Reading Reading’s research outputs online Wittgenstein on Aesthetics and Philosophy by Severin Schroeder (University of Reading) 1. Wittgenstein’s objections to scientific aesthetics For a short period of time in 1912, Wittgenstein tried to apply experimental psychology to aesthetics. With his friend David Pinsent he experimented on the perception of musical rhythm, trying to ascertain under what circumstances a regular sequence of beats, such as of a metronome, was heard as accentuated (McGuinness 1988, 127-8). ‘Useless experiments’ he called them later in a 1933 lecture (ML 363), and continued to explain what is wrong with the idea of aesthetics as a branch of psychology. The same lines of criticism recur in his 1938 lectures on aesthetics. The following are Wittgenstein’s three main objections.
    [Show full text]
  • Ludwig Wittgenstein, a Biographical Sketch Author(S): Georg Henrik Von Wright Reviewed Work(S): Source: the Philosophical Review, Vol
    Philosophical Review Ludwig Wittgenstein, A Biographical Sketch Author(s): Georg Henrik von Wright Reviewed work(s): Source: The Philosophical Review, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Oct., 1955), pp. 527-545 Published by: Duke University Press on behalf of Philosophical Review Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2182631 . Accessed: 27/10/2012 13:45 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Duke University Press and Philosophical Review are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Philosophical Review. http://www.jstor.org LudwiWiagns i n <:'5 ~ ~ ~ ~ ero e_permission withth (.-.N ~ ~ ~ o Dorth Moor. - LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN, A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH N April 29, I95I, there died at Cambridge, England, one of the most famous and influential philosophers of our time, Ludwig Wittgenstein. It has been said that Wittgenstein inspired two important schools of thought, both of which he repudiated. The one is so-called logical positivism or logical empiricism, which played a prominent role during the decade immediately preceding the Second World War. The other is the so-called analytic or linguistic movement, sometimes also called the Cambridge School.' It dominates the British philosophy of today and has spread over the entire Anglo-Saxon world and to the countries in which Anglo-Saxon influence is strong.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein Y La Religión
    WITTGENSTEIN Y LA RELIGIÓN DARÍO E. MARTÍNEZ M. PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD JAVERIANA FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA BOGOTÁ, D.C. 2009 2 WITTGENSTEIN Y LA RELIGIÓN DARÍO E. MARTÍNEZ M. Tesis de grado presentada a la Facultad de Filosofía de la Universidad Javeriana, como requisito para optar al título de Doctor en Filosofía Tutor: Profesor Alfonso Flórez PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD JAVERIANA FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA BOGOTÁ, D.C. 2009 3 4 10 Tabla de Contenido INTRODUCCION ............................................................................................................11 I. LA RELIGION EN LA VIDA DE WITTGENSTEIN....................................................20 1. La vida de un hombre no religioso ................................................................................22 2. Influencias decisivas .....................................................................................................46 3. Anotaciones acerca del cristianismo ............................................................................ 121 4. Ritos primitivos .......................................................................................................... 138 II. LA RELIGION EN EL PENSAMIENTO DE WITTGENSTEIN ............................... 154 1. Los planteamientos del Tractatus ................................................................................ 156 2. El regreso a Cambridge ............................................................................................... 168 3. Investigaciones filosóficas .........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein on Musical Experience and Knowledge
    Wittgenstein on Musical Experience and Knowledge Eran Guter, Haifa, Israel Most commentators grossly underrate Wittgenstein’s When we express our aesthetic experiences, we apply writing on music and generally tend to dismiss this aspect concepts understood as bearers of specific techniques of of his thinking as an oddity. Fortunately, recent years have use on "new surroundings" (LW I §797), namely, the seen an upsurge of remedial interest in the relevance of language game of expression. The manner in which we Wittgenstein’s texts on musical matters to the main body of reach for the aesthetic expression as the only possible his philosophical work, in particular to his philosophical way in which to give expression to our perception, psychology. inclinations and feelings underscores the specificity of such vertically complex game moves. Furthermore, such Wittgenstein sought the connection between music and expressions are not metaphors either; they do not refer to psychology already quite early in his career. His experi- comparisons, which can be identified independently of ments on music perception, conducted between 1912 and their specific, vertically complex, or secondary use. 1913 under the auspices of Charles Myers’ cutting-edge laboratory for experimental psychology in Cambridge, were In the case of music, the specificity of our aesthetic designed, as David Pinsent reports, “to ascertain the expressions, the way they are linked to their respective extent and importance of rhythm in music” (Nedo and musical experiences, results in the reciprocity of music and Ranchetti 1983). Thus stated, these experiments seem to language. The musical theme is incorporated into be of consequence neither to the musician nor to the language: "we learn a new gesture" (CV 52).
    [Show full text]
  • Electronic Pdf-Version of Volume 1
    Michael A.R. Biggs Editing Wittgenstein’s "Notes on Logic" Vol. 1 Skriftserie fra Working Papers from the Wittgensteinarkivet ved Wittgenstein Archives at Universitetet i Bergen the University of Bergen Nr 11, 1996 No 11, 1996 Wittgensteinarkivet ved Universitetet i Bergen Wittgensteinarkivet er et forskningsprosjekt ved Filosofisk institutt ved Universitetet i Bergen. Prosjektet ble startet 1. Juni 1990. Dets hovedmålsetting er å gjøre Ludwig Wittgensteins etterlatte skrifter (Nachlaß) tilgjengelige for forskning. Wittgensteinarkivet produserer derfor en komplett, maskinleselig versjon av Wittgensteins Nachlaß og utvikler programvare for presentasjon og analyse av tekstene. I samarbeid med Wittgenstein Trustees og Oxford University Press arbeides det med sikte på å publisere Nachlaß i elektronisk form. Hele Nachlaß vil først bli publisert i elektronisk faksimile på CD-ROM. Faksimilen vil deretter bli supplert med transkripsjoner fra Wittgensteinarkivet. I mellomtiden har gjesteforskere ved Wittgensteinarkivet adgang til transkripsjoner og programvare under bearbeidelse samt en fullstendig kopi av Nachlaß. The Wittgenstein Archives at the University of Bergen The Wittgenstein Archives is a research project at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bergen, Norway. Established in June 1990, its main purpose is to make Ludwig Wittgenstein’s collected writings (Nachlaß) available for research. To serve this purpose, the Wittgenstein Archives is producing a machine-readable transcription of Wittgenstein’s Nachlaß, and will supply tools for computer-assisted display and analysis of the textual corpus. In cooperation with the Wittgenstein Trustees and Oxford University Press, the Nachlaß will be published in electronic form. The entire Nachlaß will first be published as an electronic facsimile on CD-ROM. This facsimile will then be supplemented by transcriptions prepared at the Wittgenstein Archives.
    [Show full text]
  • BWS Newsletter No 10 13/10/2015, 18:38
    BWS Newsletter no 10 13/10/2015, 18:38 From: British Wittgenstein Society [[email protected] ] Subject: Newsletter no.10 BWS website home 11.02.2011 BWS Newsletter Issue no 10 Contents Nota Bene Pdf version ( 234Kb) This spring marks the 60th anniversary of Wittgenstein's death Nota Bene on 29 April 1951. Jane Dorner outlines the year's Competition various tributes to the ongoing influence of his philosophical work. On memory From 18 March to 13 June Contextualizations Doctorates of a genius runs at the Schwules Museum Berlin where his life and work are presented in a Next conference broad-based cultural and historical exhibition. It centres round his native Vienna, his studies and Publishers' discounts teaching activities in Cambridge, and his retreat in Skjolden, in Norway. The exhibition illustrates New on the BWS website the various locations that affected his life and thought, along with his respective circle of Executive committee friends and the peer groups amongst whom Wittgenstein discussed his thoughts. The exhibition is in co-operation with the About BWS Wittgenstein Archive in Cambridge and the Brenner Archiv in Innsbruck. BWS is a British focal point for research and Then (fittingly) on 29 April is the deadline for a exchange of ideas among Wittgenstein scholars Call for Papers for this year's University of and students throughout the world. Southampton annual one-day Graduate This Newsletter will be sent exclusively to Conference titled 'Wittgenstein after Sixty Years' members of the BWS, on a regular basis, in Conference to be held on on 21 May. order to draw attention to updates on the website, or to share as yet unpublished news.
    [Show full text]
  • Ludwig Wittgenstein: Profeet Van Het Logisch-Positivisme of Filosoof Van
    Ludwig Wittgenstein: profeet van het logisch- positivisme of filosoof van de negatieve theologie? Vernieuwer of eclecticus? Dat de belangstelling voor het werk van de Oostenrijkse filosoof Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) in academische kringen zo goed als nooit van de lucht is, zal niemand verbazen. Wittgenstein behoort wellicht tot de belangrijkste filosofen van de 20ste eeuw. Maar ook onder niet-academici is de interesse de laatste decennia toegenomen. Tot de verbeelding sprekende biografische romans zoals Bruce Duffy’s The world as I found it (1987) en postmoderne films zoals Derek Jarmans Wittgenstein (1993) zijn hieraan wellicht niet vreemd. Maar alhoewel deze kunstzinnige uitingen op zich natuurlijk niet geheel onverdienstelijk zijn, dragen zij wel bij tot een bepaalde mythevorming (Wittgenstein als weirdo, om het maar eens oneerbiedig te zeggen) waarvan men zich kan afvragen of ze Wittgensteins werk niet meer kwaad dan goed doen. Wittgenstein publiceerde tijdens zijn leven slechts twee werken. Het tweede is een nu volslagen vergeten Wörterbuch für Volksschulen dat dateert van 1926 toen Wittgenstein een blauwe maandag leraar was in het dorpsschooltje van het Oostenrijkse Otterthal, nadat hij aanvankelijk ook in Trattenbach en Haßbach, Puchberg en Kirchberg onderwezen had (cf. WV, p. VIII-X). Zijn eerste en ongetwijfeld meest bekende werk is de Logisch-philosophische Abhandlung, beter bekend als de Tractatus logico-philosophicus. Die titel werd bedacht door de ethicus George Edward Moore, die zich op zijn beurt wellicht liet inspireren door de ‘Tractatus Theologico-Politicus’ van Spinoza. De Tractatus van Wittgenstein verscheen in 1921 in eerste instantie als een wetenschappelijk artikel in het laatste nummer van Wilhelm Ostwalds tijdschrift ‘Annalen der Naturphilosophie’ en pas een jaar later in boekvorm (in een tweetalige Duits-Engelse editie).
    [Show full text]
  • Reseña De" Amor Y Filosofía En El Cambridge De Principios Del Siglo
    Signos Filosóficos ISSN: 1665-1324 [email protected] Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa México Hernández, Laura Reseña de "Amor y filosofía en el Cambridge de principios del siglo XX" de Ludwig Wittgenstein y David Pinsent Signos Filosóficos, núm. 6, julio-diciembre, 2001, pp. 317-321 Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa Distrito Federal, México Disponible en: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=34300618 Cómo citar el artículo Número completo Sistema de Información Científica Más información del artículo Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina, el Caribe, España y Portugal Página de la revista en redalyc.org Proyecto académico sin fines de lucro, desarrollado bajo la iniciativa de acceso abierto Signos filosóficos 317 Amor y filosofía en el Cambridge de relación entre Wittgenstein y Pinsent, principios del siglo XX1 el libro de Justus Noll tiene varios méritos. Uno de ellos consiste en con- n octubre de 1911, Ludwig centrarse exclusivamente en esta rela- Wittgenstein llega al Trinity ción y las circunstancias en que se desa- E College para estudiar filosofía de rrolla, con el fin de permitirnos valorar las matemáticas con Bertrand Russell y, la importancia de la presencia de a partir de ese momento, comenzó a Pinsent en la juventud de Wittgenstein, desarrollar una obra que llegaría a ser un espíritu afín a él porque fue, junto fundamental para la filosofía del siglo XX. con Russell, de las pocas personas en En esos años iniciales, no sólo fue quienes confió plenamente para importante su relación con pensadores compartir sus tormentos mentales en la ingleses de la talla del propio Russell, resolución de problemas lógicos, así Keynes y Moore, sino también la que como personales.
    [Show full text]
  • The First Wittgenstein Biography and Why It Has Never Been Published
    Christian Erbacher The First Wittgenstein Biography and why it has never been published 1. Wittgenstein and Hayek At first sight, the life trajectories of Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 –1951) and Friedrich August von Hayek (1899 –1992) show remarkable parallels: both of these Viennese thinkers served in the Austrian army during the First World War; both emigrated to England in the 1930s and became British citizens when Hitler annexed Austria in 1938; both were to become major intellectual figures who transformed their fields of study. A closer look, however, reveals considerable differences in the two men, in their upbringing, their war -experiences and their intellectual careers after the war. Hayek and Wittgenstein were distantly related: Hayek’s great grandfather and Wittgenstein’s grandmother had been siblings, making the two men remote cousins. But in this era, when a family of ten children was not uncommon, this relationship was not especially significant. Hayek and Wittgenstein had met occasionally during vacations or family visits, but there was no real friendship (Hayek 1992: 177). Then, too, although Hayek’s family was quite well off, their way of life could not compare to that of the Wittgensteins, one of the wealthiest families in the Austrian Empire, whose Palais welcomed such guests as Johannes Brahms and Josef Labor. Still, the casual acquaintance between Hayek and Wittgenstein was enough to enable them to recognize one another on the train to the Italian Front in the late summer of 1918, as Hayek remembered: My first recollection goes back to a day on furlough and leave of absence from the front, where on the railway station in Bad Ischl, [Austria], two young ensigns in the artillery in uniform looked at each other and said, »You have a fairly familiar face.
    [Show full text]
  • Con O Sin Peldaños? Un Debate En La Interpretación Del Tractatus
    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD JAVERIANA Una escalera ¿con o sin peldaños? Un debate en la interpretación del Tractatus Pedro Hernando Maldonado Castañeda Enero de 2014 1 Pedro Hernando Maldonado Castañeda Alumno de la Facultad de Filosofía Una escalera ¿con o sin peldaños? Un debate en la interpretación del Tractatus Trabajo de grado presentado para optar al título de Filósofo Director: Dr. Miguel Ángel Pérez Jiménez Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Facultad de Filosofía Bogotá, 31 de enero de 2014 2 Contenidos Carta del director de trabajo Introducción Capítulo primero El Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus y los límites del sentido 1. Contexto y circunstancia del Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus 2. Sentido y estructura temática del Tractatus 3. La ontología tractariana: conceptos fundamentales y problemas de interpretación 4. La teoría pictórica del sentido 5. Las nociones de sinsentido y sus interpretaciones 6. La distinción entre decir y mostrar 7. Recapitulación Capítulo segundo El Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus y sus Interpretaciones 1. Wittgenstein intérprete de sí mismo (TLP 6.54) 2. Las interpretaciones tradicionales y disidentes: sinsentido y elucidación 3. La interpretación terapéutica Consideraciones finales Referencias bibliográficas 3 Introducción “El Tractatus era un texto canónico que sólo producía herejes” (Blumenberg, Tiempo de la vida y tiempo del mundo, 311) El tema de este trabajo es el Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus y sus interpretaciones. El Tractatus no es un libro que se pueda leer sin recurrir a referencias externas que teoricen sobre el estatuto de la obra. Es decir, no es un libro que se pueda leer solo. Por su dificultad, el Tractatus es una obra que ha inspirado un sinfín de controversias.
    [Show full text]
  • The House of Wittgenstein: a Family at War Free
    FREE THE HOUSE OF WITTGENSTEIN: A FAMILY AT WAR PDF Alexander Waugh | 384 pages | 30 Dec 2009 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9780747596738 | English | London, United Kingdom The House of Wittgenstein : A Family at War - - His youngest child, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, once asked a pupil if he had ever had any tragedies in his life. Ludwig often thought of doing so, as did his surviving brother, Paul. There were three sisters: Gretl, Helene, and Hermine. Helene was highly neurotic, and had a husband who suffered from dementia. Gretl was regarded as irritating by most people, including her unpleasant husband, who committed suicide, as did his father and one of his aunts. Bad temper and extreme nervous tension were endemic in the family. All of this was before the Nazis got to work. The Wittgenstein children were brought up as Christians, but they counted as full Jews under the Nuremberg racial laws because three of their grandparents had been born Jewish and did not convert to Christianity until they reached adulthood. The fourth, their maternal grandmother, had no Jewish ancestry. After Germany annexed Austria, inthe family money bought the lives of the three sisters—Paul had escaped, and Ludwig The House of Wittgenstein: A Family At War safe in England—but at the cost of estranging several of the surviving siblings from one another. A few days before the invasion of Poland, inHitler found the time to issue an order granting half-breed status to the Wittgenstein children, on the pretext that their paternal grandfather had been the bastard son of a German prince.
    [Show full text]