I recently finished a biography of Ludwig WIttgenstein and came away thinking that, while the man was probably brilliant, he was not by any means a person who was easy to know. That aside, I started to read his first work, Tractus Logio-Philosophicus (1921/2), and immediately realized I was way out of my depth, particularly as I'm not a huge fan of analytical philosophy.
Wittgenstein's basic argument is thus:
- The world is everything that is the case.
- What is the case, the fact, is the existence of atomic facts.
- The logical picture of the facts is the thought.
- The thought is the significant proposition.
- Propositions are truth-functions of elementary propositions. (The elementary proposition is a truth-function of itself.)
- The general form of truth-function is:
. This is the general form of proposition.
- Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
Needless to say, a lot goes on in between those propositions. My question is simply this ... does any reader know of a useful "Wittgenstein for Dummies" type book or for that matter web exposition?
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I don't know of a good Wittgenstein for Dummies, alas. But I suspect that the Tractatus is what inspires a lot of the late-Wittgenstein love. (In other words, I'm not sure how big a hit the late-Wittgenstein would have been without the early-Wittgenstein to compare it to.)
Which biography was it? Would you recommend it?
Monk's (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140159959/strangerfruit-20) - it's worthwhile, though I was more interested in W's life and just glossed the math/philos.
Hi
I studied philosophy at Cambridge 1969-72 when Wittgenstein was considered to be the ultimate answer to everything. Have you looked at the Philosophical Investigations? I am sure the biography explains that he decided the Tractatus was ill-advised and began again with the Investigations. I have kept them all these years, despite a career in industry, and find them readable (in small bursts), full of insight and almost impossible to summarise.
I also recommend Wittgenstein's Poker for a fascinating insight into the times, the character of the man and a comparison with Karl Popper.
Hope this is of some use.
Cheers
Yup, I've read Wittgenstein's Poker - that's what prompted me to read Monk's biography in the first place.
John - seems like our posts crossed in the mail. I will look out for Monk - but I think you need to read PI to get to grips with the philosophy.
7., I didn't say that.
Uh. If I'm reading #7 right, it means "if you don't know what the hell you're talking about, shut up".
So I'll just shut up.
I think that the best way to get to know Ludwig is to read Ludwig without the commentators. My favourite book is Über Gewißheit (On Certainty). I think it's the single most wonderful philosophy book of the 20th century.
Then, and only then, read the PI.
Oh, and point 7 says that claims of reference or ontology that do not resolve down to the logical atoms of propositions cannot be sensibly stated, let alone discussed. Something a bout a fly in a flybottle...
"I think that the best way to get to know Ludwig is to read Ludwig without the commentators. My favourite book is ܢer Gewiߨeit (On Certainty). I think it's the single most wonderful philosophy book of the 20th century.
Then, and only then, read the PI."
John - I am surprised about the recommended order. On Certainty is a collection of notes that Wittgenstein wrote without a view to publication. It was written after PI, sometimes refers to concepts in PI e.g. language games, is narrower in its focus and I would say harder to appreciate unless you had read a lot of other philosophy.
Still I am delighted to have come across someone who has read it. I don't meet that many :-)
Cheers