Philosophy has never been studied in the same way. One of the great contributors to this discipline of knowledge, and who understood it from its most analytical side, was Ludwig Wittgenstein, an important Austrian philosopher and mathematician, born in 1889 in Vienna.

In this article we will see a biography of Ludwig Wittgenstein . We will learn about his origins, his career, his work and some of the contributions he made to the field of philosophy and language. Finally, we will cite some of his famous phrases that are still referenced today.

Brief biography of Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein was a Viennese philosopher, born on April 26, 1889 in Vienna, and died on April 29, 1951 in Cambridge, at the age of 62. Besides being a philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein was also a mathematician and linguist . Although of Austrian origin, he also obtained British nationality. Wittgenstein is considered one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century.

Ludwig also worked as a teacher, first in a village in Austria and then at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge, where he had been a disciple of Bertrand Russell. Bertrand Russell, an important British philosopher, was also a writer, and went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.

Origin

Ludwig Wittgenstein was born in 1889 in Vienna (Austria), son of Leopoldine Kalmus and Karl Wittgenstein. Ludwig Wittgenstein was the youngest of nine siblings. One of them, Paul Wittgenstein, was a renowned pianist. Wittgenstein’s family was one of the most important and richest of the time , namely of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

His father, Karl Wittgenstein, was one of the successful entrepreneurs of the time, and had a monopoly on the iron and steel sector. Her mother, Leopoldine, was the daughter of a Jewish man and a Catholic woman. Ludwig Wittgenstein and his brothers, however, were baptised as Catholics.

But Ludwig Wittgenstein moved away from the business world from which he came and focused on philosophy, mathematics and the study of logic and language.

First years

As for Ludwig Wittgenstein’s early years and his life in the family home, the philosopher was provided with an environment that would enhance his artistic and intellectual gifts . Ludwig’s parents had a passion for music and promoted the artistic branch of all their children; for example, one of their sons, Paul Wittgenstein, became an important pianist.

The family home was also attended by very important people in the cultural and artistic fields, which nurtured that already cultured atmosphere.

Trajectory

Ludwig Wittgenstein began his studies in the cities of Linz (Austria) and Berlin (Germany). Specifically, in Linz he enrolled in the Realschule Bundesrealgymnasium Fadingerstrasse ; coincidentally, Adolf Hitler also studied there.

Ludwig then travelled to Great Britain to study engineering at the University of Manchester. He then entered Trinity College in Cambridge to study pure mathematics. Mathematics was the first field that Ludwig wanted to investigate, but later the doors of logic and philosophy were opened for him , and he also began to study it.

Ludwig enlisted as a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army at the beginning of World War I (1914-1918), and was captured in the last weeks of the war by the Italians. This led to his being imprisoned for almost two years in Italy, in one of its prison camps.

However, even during the war Ludwig continued with his philosophical reflections, producing different notebooks where he wrote down his thoughts, which he continued even after he got his freedom.

It was at the end of the war, in 1921, when he produced his most famous work: “Tractatus logico-philosophicus”, which we will see later on.

Research

Ludwing’s research focuses especially on two fields or branches of philosophy : the philosophy of language and logic (or philosophy of logic). But what do they consist of?

The philosophy of language is the branch of philosophy that focuses on studying language itself; its nature, implications, relationship with thought, etc. In fact, one of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s quintessential phrases is: “The limits of my language are the limits of my world.

On the other hand, logic within philosophy includes those areas of it that use logical methods to solve philosophical problems. That is to say, the philosophy of logic is a branch of philosophy that seeks to study logical systems (their nature and justification), and that seeks to advance, by providing knowledge, in the discussion of philosophical problems.

Philosophy and language

Ludwig Wittgenstein understood philosophy as a method of conceptual and linguistic analysis . Some consider him to be the founder of “analytical philosophy”, in which his desire for knowledge was evidenced through questions and language.

According to him, philosophy allowed the ideas found in language to be clarified. Ludwig Wittgenstein believed that language was made up of complex propositions that had to be analyzed and broken down into simpler structures.

On the other hand, Ludwig was of the opinion that words were tools that exercised different functions within language and even beyond it. One of the concepts contributed by Ludwig Wittgenstein was that of “language game” .

Work and Circle of Vienna

One of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s most famous works is Tractatus logico-philosophicus , which he completed between 1918 and 1921. This work contains some of the most influential theories of the “Vienna Circle”. The Vienna Circle, of which he did not consider himself a member, was a scientific and philosophical body in Vienna, which was maintained from 1921 to 1936.

The Vienna Circle dealt with scientific and philosophical issues; mainly, they addressed “the logic of science”, and gave philosophy the role of distinguishing between what is scientific and what is not. Furthermore, the members of this circle were responsible for developing a common language in the scientific field. These theories can be found in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus logico-philosophicus.

As for the work of this philosopher, actually, while he was alive Ludwig published only this treatise, along with an article and a review.

Ludwig Wittgenstein’s work includes subjects as diverse as mathematics, philosophy and language . Some of the most outstanding works of the Austrian philosopher were

  • Observations on the foundations of mathematics (1956)
  • The blue and brown notebooks (1958)
  • Notes 1914-1916 (1961)
  • Philosophical grammar (1969)

Death and Legacy

Ludwig Wittgenstein died at the age of 62, in Cambridge, on April 29, 1951. The cause of his death was prostate cancer, which he refused to treat.

In addition to his works, we find in his career some famous phrases of the philosopher, such as

  • “The way you use the word God does not show who you think about, but what you think about”
  • “To imagine a language means to imagine a way of life”
  • “What you can’t talk about, you have to shut up”
  • “The ineffable (that which seems mysterious to me and which I do not dare to express) provides perhaps the background against which what I could express acquires meaning”
  • “Wisdom is gray. Life and religion, on the other hand, are multicolored”

These phrases reflect his passion for language, for the study of thought and for the love of philosophy and its logic.

Bibliographic references:

  • Strathern, P. (2015). Wittgenstein in 90 minutes. Siglo XXI de España Editores: Spain.
  • Wittgenstein, L. (2016). Logical-philosophical treatise. Logisch-philosophische Abhandlung, critical edition of TS 204, introduction and translation by Jesús Padilla Gálvez, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia.