During his not-so-long life, Ludwig Wittgenstein managed to be a millionaire, engineer, soldier, village teacher, monastery gardener, architect and orderly. However, for some reason, mankind remembered him only as the greatest philosopher of the 20th century. And this despite the fact that Wittgenstein himself considered philosophy not only meaningless, but in some ways even harmful.
Wittgenstein felt that his ideas would do away with all philosophy that existed before him.
How Wittgenstein managed to live 62 years and never commit suicide is a mystery. Not only did the philosopher himself not get out of severe depression for years (and, moreover, according to some researchers, he suffered from sluggish schizophrenia), the surrounding people, as if on purpose, gave him bad examples. Wittgenstein's relatives, friends and acquaintances parted with frightening ease with their lives.
In 1902, Hans, the elder brother of the future philosopher, who left his native Austria for Cuba, committed suicide. A year later, thirteen-year-old Ludwig had to wear mourning for his second brother, Rudolf, who hanged himself in Berlin. Fortunately, Ludwig still had two brothers - Paul and Kurt. It seemed that they would not commit such a stupidity. However, in 1918, an officer of the Austro-Hungarian army, Kurt, being surrounded with his platoon, found no other way out of it, but to put a bullet in his temple.
After graduating from school, Ludwig was going to continue his studies with the Austrian physicist Boltzmann, but he also took his own life. The mournful list could be stretched for a couple more pages, adding to the suicides and those acquaintances and friends of the philosopher who almost every year died from serious illnesses and accidents.
In general, Wittgenstein had plenty of reasons for an unimportant mood. But Ludwig instinctively suppressed his own desire for self-destruction by cardinal changes in his lifestyle and extravagant behavior.
Childhood, adolescence, youth
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Ludwig Joseph Johann was born on April 26, 1889 in the family of one of the richest people in Austria-Hungary - the steel magnate Karl Wittgenstein. Three daughters, four sons and one wife of Wittgenstein Sr. lived in luxury and prosperity. Subsequently, Ludwig even claimed that there were nine grand pianos in their mansion. However, biographers refuse to believe this. Although it is known for certain that composers Gustav Mahler and Johannes Brahms regularly visited the Wittgensteins, and the brothers Hans and Paul were talented pianists, it remains unclear who played the remaining five instruments. (By the way, after Paul lost his right hand in the war, Maurice Ravel composed especially for him the now famous Piano Concerto in D minor for the left hand.) Ludwig himself played the clarinet perfectly in childhood.
Paul Wittgenstein remained a concert musician even after his arm was severed in the war
According to Wittgenstein, he began to think about philosophical questions at the age of eight: "I see myself standing at the door and pondering why people are telling the truth when it is much more profitable to lie."
After receiving a fair amount of primary education at home, Ludwig went to secondary. It is noteworthy that one of his classmates at the Linz school was Adolf Hitler * (then still known under the name Schicklgruber), who, after the capture of Austria in 1938, would force Wittgenstein to take English citizenship.
In 1908, after two years of training as a mechanical engineer in Berlin, Ludwig entered the Manchester Technical School, where he developed a mathematical model of the propeller and figured out the features of the movement of kites in the upper atmosphere. Then Wittgenstein developed a new hobby - mathematical logic, and in 1911 he went to Cambridge, where Bertrand Russell, the author of numerous works on the subject, taught.
Rising star of European philosophy
One of the first dialogues between Wittgenstein and Russell looked something like this: "Tell me, professor, am I a complete idiot?" - "I do not know. But why are you asking?" “If I’m an idiot, I’ll become an aeronaut. If not, a philosopher."
His new student, Lord Russell, judging by the letters, at first found "extremely tedious", "terrible debater" and "sheer punishment." “I asked him to accept the assumption that there was no rhino in this room,” wrote an outraged Russell. - But he did not accept! But already after some six months, the famous logician said to Wittgenstein's sister: "We expect that the next significant step in philosophy will be taken by your brother."
A real sensation was made by the first report of 23-year-old Ludwig, which was simply called “What is philosophy?”. It took Wittgenstein four minutes to cover the topic.
Bertrand Russell was the first to recognize a genius in young Wittgenstein
Ludwig stayed in Cambridge only until August 1913. And even then in the last six months he felt not in the best way - he was moping and talked all the time about his imminent death (the terms of the sad date ranged from two months to four years).
In the end, deciding to change the scenery, Wittgenstein, with his friend David Pincent, went to travel to Norway and unexpectedly stayed there for a long time. Pincent came back alone. At Cambridge, with relief, they decided that Wittgenstein had finally gone completely insane. But Ludwig himself was extremely pleased with himself. He considered his time in the north to be the most productive of his life. It was in Norway that an aspiring philosopher began work on his famous "Logical-Philosophical Treatise" (the only philosophical book by Wittgenstein that was published during his lifetime). At the same time, despite the distance, he managed to quarrel with Bertrand Russell, who did not like the mentor tone of the young genius's letters.
Relatives, friends and acquaintances with frightening ease committed suicide
The only thing Norway lacked was decent sparring partners. Wittgenstein believed that a philosopher who does not enter into discussion is like a boxer who does not enter the ring. Ludwig wrote to Edward Moore, a Cambridge teacher, founder of analytical philosophy: you are, they say, the only one in the whole world who is able to understand me, come urgently. Moore did not want to trudge north, but Ludwig was very persistent.
In fact, he wanted more than just fellowship. Wittgenstein came up with the idea of transferring a thesis with Moore and obtaining a bachelor's degree. Moreover, when Edward arrived in Norway, it turned out that he would also have to fulfill the duties of a secretary: he wrote the work entitled "Logic" under the dictation of Wittgenstein.
But Trinity College refused to credit Logic as a dissertation: there was no preface, review, or bibliography. Upon learning of this, Wittgenstein wrote to Moore a furious letter: “If I cannot expect to be made an exception for me even in such idiotic details, then I can go straight to the devil; if I have the right to count on this, and you did not, then - for God's sake - you can go to him yourself."
Millionaire
In 1913, Ludwig's father died, leaving his son a huge fortune. Wittgenstein did not think for a long time what to do with the money that distracted him from thinking about the frailty of existence: he decided to help his poor brothers in mind - artists, writers and philosophers. Rainer Maria Rilke received twenty thousand crowns from Wittgenstein. Another 80 thousand were distributed among other artists. Wittgenstein refused the rest of the money in favor of relatives.
Soldier
The First World War broke out, and Wittgenstein decided to go to the front. Not only for patriotic reasons. He believed that dying at the front was much more honorable than just shooting yourself on the couch in the living room or drinking poison in the dining room. And if they do not kill, then, as he wrote in his diary before one of the battles, he will at least have "a chance to become a decent person."
At first, however, due to poor health, they did not want to take him to the front line. “If this happens, I will kill myself,” Wittgenstein threatened, constantly looking for an opportunity to settle scores with a hateful life. So Ludwig got to the Russian front and even took part in the Brusilov breakthrough. Naturally, on the side to be broken through. In Wittgenstein's diary, one can find an entry that in the process of breaking through, he "lost the thread of mathematical reasoning."
Wittgenstein failed to die the death of the brave. Moreover, he received a medal for valor, and a little later was promoted to lieutenant. At the same time, I had to finish work on the "Logical-Philosophical Treatise".
Volunteering for the front, Ludwig dreamed of an imminent death
Finally, in October 1918, Wittgenstein was captured by the Italians. Wittgenstein's friends tried to release him early, but Ludwig was against it. He did not see the difference between ordinary life and captivity, and therefore spent almost a year there on a general basis.
Returning home, Wittgenstein learned the sad news: his Cambridge friend David Pincent, who fought for the British, was killed in an air battle.
Teacher
In 1921, in the 32nd year of his still continuing life, Ludwig published his "Logical-Philosophical Treatise", the introduction to which Russell tried to write, but Wittgenstein found the Englishman's text superficial and wrote the preface himself. It ended with the following passage: "The truth of the thoughts presented here seems to me irrefutable and final." Therefore, there was no point in returning to philosophical activity. And Wittgenstein made another trick - he realized the dream of every intellectual: he went to the people and became a primary school teacher. And not in some Vienna, but in the godforsaken alpine village of Trattenbach.
Even during the war, Wittgenstein read the Tolstoyan version of the Gospels, popular in those years in Europe, and fell into an extreme degree of Tolstoyism. Ludwig, probably, dreamed of teaching children reasonable, kind, eternal against the background of pastoral landscapes, and in the evenings to sit on the blockade, drink fresh milk and talk with wise old men. In reality, everything turned out to be much more prosaic. The fresh air was not good for his spleen. A year later, Wittgenstein wrote to his friends that the peasants are vulgar, colleagues in the school are mean, and indeed all people are insignificant.
1925 year. Wittgenstein (far right adult) and students of Ottertal Primary School
Ludwig lived extremely modestly, ate so poorly that even the poorest peasants were horrified. In addition, the parents of the students disliked Wittgenstein: they believed that the new teacher inspired them with aversion to agriculture and seduced the children with stories about the city.
Even Wittgenstein's "miracle" did not help. A steam engine broke down at a local factory, and the invited engineers were unable to fix it. Ludwig, actually passing by, asked permission to look at the mechanism, wandered around the car and, calling four workers, ordered them to rhythmically tap on the unit. The car started working, and Wittgenstein, whistling Mahler, went his own way.
Having received a huge inheritance, Ludwig got rid of it in a matter of months
They say that the teacher from Wittgenstein came out excellent. He took the children on excursions to Vienna, where he told them about the architecture and the arrangement of various machines. Ludwig's children adored. Even though Wittgenstein used corporal punishment quite in the spirit of that time.
For five years, the philosopher taught in three villages. Work in the last of them, in Ottertal, ended in a scandal. In April 1926, they filed a lawsuit against him: they say, the teacher Wittgenstein beats students so that they faint, bleeding. There was a trial and an examination for mental sanity. Wittgenstein was acquitted, but he had no desire to return to school.
Gardener and Architect
While still teaching, Wittgenstein said that he wanted to find a job as a janitor or cabman. In 1926, he had a new idea - to become a monk, but the abbot of the monastery, where Wittgenstein turned, dissuaded him. It took three months to be content with a gardener's job in a Viennese monastery, until his sister Gretl announced that she was going to build a house. Ludwig volunteered to participate.
The house that Ludwig worked on is still shown to tourists.
The Thinker took upon himself the most important thing - details. Doorknobs, doors, window frames and more. Work on the house continued until 1928. The sister was pleased.
No sparrow quote
Memorize these six famous sayings of Wittgenstein and apply them the next time you meet a girl at the disco.
Anything that can be said must be said clearly. If I thought of God as another being, like myself, outside of me, only infinitely more powerful, then I would consider it my immediate task to challenge him to a duel. What you can't talk about, you need to keep silent about that. I am the only professor of philosophy who has not read Aristotle. The border of my language is the border of my world. People who ask why every now and then are like tourists standing in front of a building and reading about the history of its creation in their travel guide. This prevents them from seeing the building itself.
The groom
Margarita Resinger was originally from Sweden and met Wittgenstein in Vienna while he lay in her sister's apartment, healing a leg that had been damaged during the construction of a house. Margarita came from a wealthy, decent family and, naturally, was not at all interested in philosophy, which Ludwig certainly liked.
Their romance lasted five years. Every time Ludwig came to Vienna, Margarita courageously endured joint trips to the cinema, and only to American films (European Ludwig considered too abstruse), dinners in questionable cafes (sandwiches and a glass of milk), as well as extremely careless (in the worker-peasant style) manner of dressing.
Parents accused Wittgenstein of beating his students to blood
Margarita could not stand the joint trip in 1931 - where would you think? - of course, to Norway. Wittgenstein planned everything just fine. In order to prepare for their future life together, the lovers had to spend several months separately (in different houses, standing ten meters from each other), thinking about the upcoming serious step. Wittgenstein performed his part of the program superbly - he reflected with all his might. And Margarita lasted only two weeks. And even then, instead of reading the Bible slipped into her by Ludwig, the bride fluttered around the neighborhood, flirting with the peasants, bathing and learning Norwegian. And then she just took it and went to Rome. You fool!
Great
While Wittgenstein was doing God knows what, his "Treatise" excited the thinking minds of the whole world. In the 1920s, the Vienna Logical Circle was formed in the Austrian capital, and Wittgenstein's work became a sacred book for the mathematicians, physicists and philosophers included in it. Chairman Moritz Schlick struggled to establish contact with Wittgenstein to invite the guru to the meetings of the chosen circle. He agreed only on the condition that they would not ask him any questions about philosophy, and he would choose the topic for the conversation himself. As a result, Ludwig gladly played the fool in front of his devoted admirers: he read, for example, the poems of Rabindranath Tagore.
Frank Ramsey, Wittgenstein's supervisor
Wittgenstein never had a very high opinion of the mental abilities of others and did not believe that anyone would be able to perceive his philosophy. But in the process of communicating with fans, he again felt an interest in philosophy. Ludwig returned to Cambridge. True, the thinker still did not have an academic degree and at first was listed at the university as a kind of graduate student. Frank Ramsay became his scientific advisor - he was seventeen years younger than 40-year-old Wittgenstein.
After becoming a professor of philosophy at Cambridge, Ludwig advised students not to study this subject.
To get his Ph. D., Ludwig had to write a dissertation and pass an exam. The examiners were Moore and Russell. As a result, the defense turned into a sweet conversation of old friends. In conclusion, Wittgenstein said comfortingly to the professors: "Don't worry, you will never understand what I mean anyway."
Preparing for teaching - no longer in a rural school, but in the best university in Europe - Wittgenstein suffered another blow of fate: on the eve of the first lecture, his former scientific advisor Ramsey died of viral hepatitis.
Wittgenstein and his Cambridge colleague Francis Skinner. 1933 year
There were legends about how the recognized philosopher gave lectures. Sometimes he stretched out on the floor and thoughtfully looked at the ceiling, thinking aloud about the problem that interested him. At an impasse, Wittgenstein loudly called himself a fool. He almost forbade his students to pursue philosophy professionally. “Go to the factory! - said the teacher. "It will be more useful." “Better to read detective stories than the philosophical journal Mind,” he added.
Some students even followed his advice. One of Wittgenstein's most devoted students, Maurice Drury, dropped out of philosophy and first helped the homeless, and later became famous as a psychiatrist. Another student, Francis Skinner, who studied mathematics, to the horror of his parents, became a mechanic.
Communist
In 1934, Ludwig came up with another brilliant idea. He decided to leave for the Soviet Union for permanent residence. The son of a steel magnate (this often happens) approvingly of the communist regime, spoke positively of Lenin (“He, at least, tried to do something … A very expressive face, something Mongolian in features. It is not surprising that, despite materialism, the Russians decided to preserve Lenin's body in eternity”) and believed that the mausoleum was a magnificent architectural project. As for another project, St. Basil's Cathedral, Wittgenstein was fascinated by the story of its creation. According to legend, Ivan the Terrible ordered to blind the architects so that they could not build anything more beautiful. “I hope this is true,” said Ludwig, terrifying his interlocutors.
Wittgenstein considered Lenin's mausoleum a wonderful architectural project
The philosopher quickly learned Russian, "the most beautiful language that can be heard by ear." I passed the interview at the embassy without difficulty. But in the USSR, Wittgenstein's affairs did not go as he planned.
Ludwig dreamed of going on an expedition to the North to study the life of wild peoples, or to become, for example, a steelmaker. But he was offered a department at Kazan University, or to start teaching philosophy at Moscow State University (and there, you see, scientific communism). But Wittgenstein was even more offended when Sophia Yanovskaya, a professor of mathematical logic, advised him to read more Hegel.
Having visited Moscow, Leningrad and Kazan in three weeks, Ludwig returned to Cambridge with nothing.
Orderly
When World War II began, Wittgenstein could no longer go to the front: his age did not allow. Then he got a job as an orderly in a London hospital. They say that there, too, he proved himself to be a real philosopher: when distributing medicines to the wounded, he advised in no case to drink this muck.
When in 1945 our troops approached Berlin, Ludwig sincerely felt sorry for Hitler. "Just imagine what a terrible situation a man like Hitler is in now!" - said Ludwig.
Philosopher again
After the war, Wittgenstein continued to suffer from depression, while working on his second major work, Philosophical Investigations. The philosopher did not manage to complete this work. In 1951, he died of prostate cancer.
Wittgenstein's grave at the Cambridge cemetery
“Tell them I had a wonderful life,” he said before his death to the wife of his doctor in charge, Mrs. Bevan. Mrs. Beavan said.
Philosopher's stone to your garden
Everything you need to know about Wittgenstein's views to maintain a relaxed conversation among intellectuals.
Traditional philosophy deals with the issues of being ("What was in the beginning: a chicken or Archeopteryx?)", Ethics ("Am I trembling creature or are all the other such fools?"), Metaphysics ("Are there really ghosts?") And other similar things …
Analytical philosophy, of which Wittgenstein became one of the pillars, believes that all these problems are far-fetched and arose only as a result of the imperfection of language, which obscures and confuses thought. Wittgenstein was interested in how language functions and how different words are used. (Why, for example, do we call green "green"?)
Each sentence of the language, according to Wittgenstein, corresponds to a completely definite picture, that is, it reflects some fact ("Masha ate porridge"). But what exactly is the correspondence between the sentence and the fact - it cannot be expressed in words, even if you crack.
The "Logical-Philosophical Treatise" - a work that brought Wittgenstein universal recognition - is small, it contains some 80 pages. Unlike the overwhelming majority of philosophical works, "Treatise" is written in normal human language. Wittgenstein generally considered any terminology to be complete nonsense. Even very complex problems - the throwing of the human soul, the perception of the universe - can be discussed using the most ordinary words, such as "iron" or "fidget". And if it is impossible, then it is not worth talking about it.
For greater convenience, the book is also divided into points, like an article in a glossy magazine or instructions for using this world:
1. Peace is everything that happens to be.
1.1. The world is a collection of facts, not things.
1.11. The world is defined by facts and the fact that these are all facts.
Etc.