1951day.year
Ludwig Wittgenstein
(1889 - 1951)
Austrian-English philosopher and academic
Austrian-English philosopher and academic
Austrian-British philosopher whose works revolutionized analytic philosophy.
Ludwig Wittgenstein was born in Vienna in 1889 into one of Europe's wealthiest families. After studying engineering, he turned to philosophy under Bertrand Russell at Cambridge University. His first major work, "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus," offered a concise model of language and reality. Later, he rejected many early positions and, in "Philosophical Investigations," developed a new view of meaning as use. Wittgenstein held teaching posts in Austria and at Cambridge, inspiring students with his intense style. His ideas on logic, language, and mind have had lasting influence across philosophy, linguistics, and cognitive science. He died in 1951, having reshaped the course of 20th-century thought.
1951
Ludwig Wittgenstein