Ludwig Wittgenstein: biography of this Viennese philosopher

This European thinker was one of the leading figures in 20th century philosophy of language.

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 quote some of his famous phrases that are still referenced today.

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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. In addition to 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, Cambridge University, 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 wealthy families of the time, particularly in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.specifically in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

His father, Karl Wittgenstein, was one of the successful businessmen of the time, and had a monopoly in the iron and steel industry. His mother, Leopoldine, was the daughter of a Jewish man and a Catholic woman. Ludwig Wittgenstein and his siblings, however, were baptized as Catholics.

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

Early years

Regarding Ludwig Wittgenstein's early life and his life in the family home, the philosopher was provided with an environment that fostered his artistic and intellectual gifts.. Ludwing's parents were fond of music and encouraged the artistic branch of all their children; for example, one of their sons, Paul Wittgenstein, became an important pianist.

In the family home, in addition, very important people in the cultural and artistic field attended, which nurtured this already cultured environment.

Biography

Ludwig Wittgenstein began his studies in the cities of Linz (Austria) and Berlin (Germany). Specifically, he enrolled in Linz (Austria) and Berlin (Germany), in Linz he enrolled at the Realschule Bundesrealgymnasium FadingerstrasseHe studied at the Realschule Bundesrealgymnasium Fadingerstrasse; coincidentally, Adolf Hitler was also a student at the same school.

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

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 resulted in him being imprisoned for almost two years in Italy, in one of their prison camps.

However, even in the war Ludwig even during the war Ludwig continued his philosophical reflections, writing down his thoughts in various notebooks. in which he wrote down his thoughts, which he continued even after his release from prison.

It is at the end of the war, in 1921, when he wrote his most famous work: "Tractatus logico-philosophicus", which we will see below.

Research

Ludwing's researches are especially focused on two fields or branches of philosophyThe philosophy of language and logic (or philosophy of logic). But what do they consist of?

The philosophy of language is the branch of philosophy focused on the study of language itself; its nature, implications, relation with thought, etc. In fact, one of Ludwig Wittgenstein's quintessential phrases is: "The limits of my language are the limits of my world".

For its part, logic within philosophy encompasses those areas of philosophy that use logical methods to solve philosophical problems. That is to say, the philosophy of logic is a branch of philosophy that aims to study logical systems (their nature and justification), and that aims to advance, by contributing 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 the founder of "analytic philosophy", where his eagerness for knowledge through questions and language was evident.

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

On the other hand, Ludwig believed that words were tools that performed different functions within language and even beyond it. One of the concepts contributed by Ludwig Wittgenstein was that of "language play"..

Work and the Vienna Circle

One of Ludwig Wittgenstein's most famous works is the Tractatus logico-philosophicuswhich 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 lasted from 1921 to 1936.

The Vienna Circle dealt with scientific and philosophical topics, mainly "the logic of science", and gave philosophy the role of distinguishing between what is scientific and what is not. In addition, the members of this circle were responsible for elaborating 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, together with an article and a review.

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

• Remarks on the fundamentals of mathematics (1956)
• 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, specifically 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 trajectory some famous phrases of the philosopher, such as:

• "The way you employ the word God does not show who you think of, but what you think of."
• "Imagining a language means imagining a way of life".
• "What cannot be spoken about must be kept silent".
• "The ineffable (that which seems mysterious to me and which I dare not express) provides perhaps the background against which whatever I might express acquires meaning"
• "Wisdom is gray. On the other hand, life and religion are multicolored".

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

Bibliographical references:

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