Overview
The first biography in more than three decades of the Austrian-born thinker Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century According to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), philosophy is a ""battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language."" This audacious idea changed the way many of its practitioners saw their subject. In the first biography of Wittgenstein in more than three decades, Anthony Gottlieb evaluates this revolutionary idea, explaining the evolution of Wittgenstein's thought and his place in the history of philosophy. Wittgenstein was born into an immensely rich Viennese family but yearned to live a simple life, and he gave away his inheritance. After studying with Bertrand Russell in Cambridge, he wrote his famous Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus while serving in World War I. He then took several positions as a primary-school teacher in rural Austria before returning as a fellow to Cambridge, where a cultlike following developed around him. Wittgenstein worked not only as a philosopher and schoolteacher, but also as an aeronautical engineer in Manchester and as an architect in Vienna. Gottlieb's meticulously researched book traces the itinerant and troubled life of Wittgenstein, the development of his influential ideas, and the Viennese intellectual milieu and family background that shaped him.
Full Product Details
Author: Anthony Gottlieb ,
Anthony Gottlieb
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Imprint: Blackstone Publishing
Edition: Unabridged edition
ISBN: 9798228681699
Publication Date: 20 December 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Audio
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.
Reviews
""A deft biography of a staggering mind, told through his all-too-human relationships to family, friends, and lovers."" -- ""Kirkus Reviews"" ""An entertaining and beautifully written fresh new look at one of the major personalities of philosophy."" -- ""A. C. Grayling, author of Wittgenstein: A Very Short Introduction""
Author Information
Anthony Gottlieb is an author, book critic, and former executive editor of The Economist. He is the author of The Dream of Reason: A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance and The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy. Anthony Gottlieb is an author, book critic, and former executive editor of The Economist. He is the author of The Dream of Reason: A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance and The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy.
