Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating account of Wittgenstein's life!
Review: A 20th century original, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein spent much of his adult life as a Cambridge don in England while apparently hating it! A troubled, if brilliant, man he first became fascinated by the technical philosophical work of Bertrand Russell in his youth while studying to be an engineer in England. After an initially awkward first interview with Russell, the dean of logical positivism became convinced that "his German" (he was in fact Austrian, as Russell subsequently dtermined) had the stuff of genius and might well be the answer to his needs. Russell had become convinced that he'd made all the progress he would ever make on the technical side of philosophy and had so exhausted himself that he needed to find and nurture a younger acolyte with the energy to carry on and take "the next big step."Russell soon concluded Wittgenstein was his man and became the young Austrian's mentor. Wittgenstein plunged into the work with his usual focus, though he could not bring himself to publish until he had it right, much to Russell's dismay. World War I found Wittgenstein back in his family home in Vienna (where his kin, members of an extremely wealthy industrialist family of German-Jewish descent, though Catholic in upbringing and commitment, were prominent). Volunteering for service in the Austrian army, Wittgenstein found life as a soldier, among average people, intolerable and volunteered for the front to test his mettle. There, he placed himself in harm's way, impressing his superiors and ended up a prisoner of the Italians. During this time he committed his thoughts to a small book which he shared by mail with Russell: the Tractatus-Logico Philosophicus, destined to become a classic though he had a great deal of trouble getting it published initially. After the war and publication of the Tractatus, Wittgenstein left philosophy for a career as a grammar school teacher in a rural part of post-World War I Austria. He seems to have been a good teacher, if overly demanding and given to corporal punishment of his charges, something he came to regret in later life. After one particularly eggregious incident, he fled Austria's school system and returned to Cambridge to do philosophy again. During his period as a grade school teacher, his Tractatus made the rounds of professional philosophers in Cambridge and in Austria (where it fascinated the nascent movement of logical positivists, who sought to establish a philosophical method entirely consistent with science and free of the taint of old philosophy's metaphysics). Though Wittgenstein became something of a guiding light for these "Vienna Circle" positivists, his concerns were never quite consonant with theirs. Back in Cambridge, he took up his teaching duties again, as assistant instructor and, later, professor of philosophy, but could never bring himself to publish another work, though he worked on many manuscripts and much of what he thought and wrote was circulated in notebook, and other more or less unpublished, forms. During this time he began to question what he had done in the Tractatus, a book he had once thought answered all the questions that could be answered. As he wrestled with his old ideas he gradually came to discard them, much to the chagrin of Russell who could not fathom the odd turn Wittgenstein's thought had taken which seemed to deny everything Russell found important and worth troubling over. The two men grew apart. While admiring Wittgenstein's ability to think deeply and with originality, Russell came to conclude that Wittgenstein's philosophy had gone wrong. More telling, though, is that Russell's own way of doing philosophy, so-called logicism, gradually fell out of favour as young philosophers came under the Wittgensteinian spell. A charismatic if irascible man, the expatriate don continued, after his return to Cambridge, to work through his revolutionary ideas about the nature of logic and knowing itself, and what it really meant to do philosophy. Discarding the old logicist notions he'd held in the Tractatus, he revised his way of understanding the world. If, in the Tractatus, he'd supposed that language somehow mirrored the world and that this could be seen but not explicitly discussed, he now came to hold that language did not so much reflect what was in the world as construct it. His new view suggested that language was more like a tool box than a camera or mirror and that we built our world by applying its tools in their proper places. The way to understand things was to look deeply into the uses of language itself which, in their ordinary form, were more basic and substantial than the logical forms which had been the stuff of Russellian analysis. For the later Wittgenstein, the key was to stop thinking about abstractions and to return, instead, to the concrete. Philosophical problems were largely puzzles or confusions which needed not to be solved, as with scientific problems, but, rather, defused. Philosophy became, on his view, a personal search for understanding and not a process of building systems to compete with scientific theorizing. His focus and interests ranged from the foundations of mathematics (he denied the logicist basis Russell had aimed to construct) to the arts and ethical matters (how must a man live?) though he doesn't seem to have contributed anything explicit in this last area. Philosophy became, in his view, the search for insight, for new ways of seeing, and the abandonment of system-building and hollow logical discourse which he thought too divorced from what we really thought and said, as manifested in our daily language and activities. Out of this later Wittgensteinian view arose the linguistic analysis school of philosophy and the ordinary language school, two approaches that saw the way to do philosophy as the unpacking of misused verbiage which occurs when we are led astray by superficial appearances in language. The key was to look at language as it is actually used and realize that what is meant is often quite different from what we take a word, phrase, or claim to mean. A man of religious fervour and orientation, Wittgenstein never seemed able to accept the Catholic doctrines of his youth though he was drawn inexorably towards them. His apparently homosexual orientation complicated matters and prompted a sense of self-loathing that seems to have haunted him to his final days. In this fine biography, the man's course is carefully traced from childhood to his deathbed, writing philosophy to the last, despite his famous advice to his students to avoid the field and his belief that the best way to do philosophy was to achieve the state of understanding which enabled you to simply stop worrying about so-called philosophical problems and walk away at will. SWM
Rating:
Summary: This is a wonderful book about a very complex person
Review: After taking an intro course on Wittgenstein, I had learned enough to know he lived an interesting and not-too-ordinary life...what this book did was not only confirm that hunch but also open my eyes to countless other historical and personal implications that helped to shape and mold Ludwig's life. It will take me years to actually develop opinions about the philosopher and his philosophy, but this book has been a great help in gaining a thorough understanding of the man himself, which I believe is a necessary and logical prelude to the philosophy which he produced. A very entertaining and thought-provoking read for anyone who wants to take a step into the world of the first half of this century or into philosophy.
Rating:
Summary: Genius Deflated
Review: As a college student, I, too, fell under the Wittgenstein spell and though that I had discovered the one true incorruptible genius. Ah to be young again. This book, however, gave me new insights into Wittgenstein and, even more important, the value of genius itself. Monk's clear and elegant writing does an excellent job of laying out the territory of Wittgenstein's ideas, and he offers up a weatlth of lovingly presented detail that situate us right in there in Vienna, in Cambridge, in the energy of those times and places.. He details the scope of LVW's contribution and the shape of his insights so that even non-philosophers will be able to understand it all quite well. Anyone interested in understanding what Wittgenstein actually wrote and said, what his philosophy entailed, can do a lot worse than read this book--there is so much Wittgenstein garbage out there that is just wrong. Monk at least gets it right and for that he should be commended. But it goes much further. Duty is the issue. What does Wittenstein do with his insights and ideas? Wittgenstein emerges as an arrgogant and pretty unpleasant fellow with many charming and odd personaily traits (including many shared by your average 12 year old boy) struggling to live in concert with his complex and marvelous ideas. This book is about that struggle more than anything and it is about, I think, what philosophy is for, which, for any Wittgensteinian, is really the question to answer. This is a great book. Any smart person who likes ideas--even if they aren't interested in philosophy per se might enjoy this for its very satisfying, even gossipy, renderings of intellectual hotbeds and characters and its unique focus on genius in relation to duty--goodness and knowledge--together.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful introduction to the man and the work
Review: Aside from a quickly abandoned attempt to read the Tractatus as a pretentious freshman in college, I didn't know anything about Wittgenstein other than a few random facts. The ones that fascinated me were that, after finished his first book, he went off to teach in a rural primary school; that he had been commended for bravery several times in WWI; and that among his last words, when his friends were arriving too late to see him on his deathbed, were "tell them I've had a wonderful life." There was something fascinating about all of this existing in one man, so when a philosophy professor I ran into at a wedding recommended this book as the place to start, I rushed to pick it up. Loosely speaking, great men have two types of lives: the ones devoted to an ethical or aesthetic mission, and the ones whose lives are less streamlined, more variegated. For the former, their lives slip naturally into a type of narrative with a few basic themes: you can see them make progress towards the goal that they have set for themselves. Biographies of people like Gandhi, for example, can be slim and focused. For the others, whose lives are messy and not motivated by a few basic concerns, I prefer baggy biographies, that revel in small details: Ellman's Joyce, for example, or The Life of Johnson. Wittgenstein is a curious combination of the two, because he is almost obsessively motivated by a goal of religious and moral purity that directs his entire life; and yet, his actions (and choice of partners) are so cyclical that occasionally you start losing track of people, and feeling like you've read the chapter before: the same suicidal streak, another timid, gentle male partner. Monk handles this well: he writes beautifully (and colloquially, in the best possible sense) and isn't afraid of passionate engagement. The book is beautifully structured, and the themes that surface continually in Wittgenstein's life are brought up gracefully and juggled with consummate skill. I only occasionally felt like Monk tried too hard to fit Wittgenstein's life into the framework he created. Wittgenstein's love of pulp detective fiction, for example, is supposed to indicate how much he valued intuition instead of a deductive style of reasoning, and connects to the philosophy of the later years? Maybe he just liked detective stories: lots of people have. Monk's desire for a coherent narrative also makes him leave out parts that I thought would be fascinating. He mentions a thank you note of Rilke's that Wittgenstein really liked, but he doesn't quote it; Wittgenstein discusses a poem that he loves with his friend for a whole letter, but the poem is never quoted - it's those kinds of technically unnecessary little bits that might have illuminated a great deal (or just been interesting). But Monk also has an eye for the wonderful detail - and he has clearly dug up almost everything that can be found on W. - like the diary of a 14-year boy whose father he visited. This is also a good introduction to W's work, although not really an in-depth exploration. I disagree with the reviewer who said that this book was a deflation of genius. At the end of this book, I still admired the demands that Wittgenstein made on himself, his honesty, his determination, and his generosity, but I was further convinced that a genius should not be trusted for opinions on any subject but his own narrow discipline. Anyway, read this book; I enjoyed it a lot.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful introduction to the man and the work
Review: Aside from a quickly abandoned attempt to read the Tractatus as a pretentious freshman in college, I didn't know anything about Wittgenstein other than a few random facts. The ones that fascinated me were that, after finished his first book, he went off to teach in a rural primary school; that he had been commended for bravery several times in WWI; and that among his last words, when his friends were arriving too late to see him on his deathbed, were "tell them I've had a wonderful life." There was something fascinating about all of this existing in one man, so when a philosophy professor I ran into at a wedding recommended this book as the place to start, I rushed to pick it up. Loosely speaking, great men have two types of lives: the ones devoted to an ethical or aesthetic mission, and the ones whose lives are less streamlined, more variegated. For the former, their lives slip naturally into a type of narrative with a few basic themes: you can see them make progress towards the goal that they have set for themselves. Biographies of people like Gandhi, for example, can be slim and focused. For the others, whose lives are messy and not motivated by a few basic concerns, I prefer baggy biographies, that revel in small details: Ellman's Joyce, for example, or The Life of Johnson. Wittgenstein is a curious combination of the two, because he is almost obsessively motivated by a goal of religious and moral purity that directs his entire life; and yet, his actions (and choice of partners) are so cyclical that occasionally you start losing track of people, and feeling like you've read the chapter before: the same suicidal streak, another timid, gentle male partner. Monk handles this well: he writes beautifully (and colloquially, in the best possible sense) and isn't afraid of passionate engagement. The book is beautifully structured, and the themes that surface continually in Wittgenstein's life are brought up gracefully and juggled with consummate skill. I only occasionally felt like Monk tried too hard to fit Wittgenstein's life into the framework he created. Wittgenstein's love of pulp detective fiction, for example, is supposed to indicate how much he valued intuition instead of a deductive style of reasoning, and connects to the philosophy of the later years? Maybe he just liked detective stories: lots of people have. Monk's desire for a coherent narrative also makes him leave out parts that I thought would be fascinating. He mentions a thank you note of Rilke's that Wittgenstein really liked, but he doesn't quote it; Wittgenstein discusses a poem that he loves with his friend for a whole letter, but the poem is never quoted - it's those kinds of technically unnecessary little bits that might have illuminated a great deal (or just been interesting). But Monk also has an eye for the wonderful detail - and he has clearly dug up almost everything that can be found on W. - like the diary of a 14-year boy whose father he visited. This is also a good introduction to W's work, although not really an in-depth exploration. I disagree with the reviewer who said that this book was a deflation of genius. At the end of this book, I still admired the demands that Wittgenstein made on himself, his honesty, his determination, and his generosity, but I was further convinced that a genius should not be trusted for opinions on any subject but his own narrow discipline. Anyway, read this book; I enjoyed it a lot.
Rating:
Summary: Connects the man and his work
Review: Even for those not acquainted with analytical philosophy or the subject of philosophy in general, the name Ludwig Wittgenstein will sound familiar. He is known in some circles as the "tortured genius" as his life was a passionate and agonizing battle to be true to his nature and to discover `real' philosophy with the intent of putting an end to the subject all together. Some believed he achieved this end - the man certainly re-directed philosophical enquiry in our modern times. The problem with most of us lesser creatures, understanding Wittgenstein's thought and work is a momentous task. If you have had the pleasure or tormenting experience of reading or studying his Tractatus Logico-philosophicus or Philosophical Investigations, or one or two of the literarily thousands of commentaries and secondary sources on his work, you will comprehend or at least relate to the complexity of his thought. The Duty of Genius is a great philosophical biography because the author has managed to elegantly connect Wittgenstein the man, his spiritual concerns and emotional preoccupations, with his philosophy, in one flowing, well-written narrative. I came away from this book with greater insight into analytical philosophy and a deep appreciation of the man himself.
Wittgenstein was one of the most opinionated men I have ever read about. In fact he had an opinion on just about everything, particularly music. He believed that no other music after Brahms was worth listening to and Mozart and Beethoven are the true "son's of God". He loved reading American detective stories and believed our so-called modern age is a dark age in all respects. Similar to a good pragmatist, he believed that knowledge and doing, action, were intimately connected. He had a privileged up bringing in pre WW1 Vienna, a fascinating, tumultuous and highly creative period before the fall of the Austrian Hungarian Empire. He was a neighbour of Sigmund Freud and went to the same Primary school as Adolph Hitler. (Both remembered each other later in life during WW2.) He inherited a large fortune and ended up giving most of it away. He wrote his first major work, The Tractatus, while a prisoner of war in Italy. All of these things are wonderfully described in the biography, but Monk has managed to convey something about the man that is hard to define, and that was his magnetic personality. Wittgenstein's magical presence is legendary and the numerous anecdotes described by Monk, I believe, truly gives the reader a vivid sense of this presence, his genius comes through loud and clear in this book. And this is what makes this biography so moving and interesting.
This biography will not give the reader a full comprehension of Wittgenstein's philosophy, however, as an introduction, putting the man and his work into their proper historical context, the clouds begin to dissipate and a glimmer of understanding begins to appear - extremely engaging, informative, well-written and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: A superb biography of a philosophical genius
Review: Everything Wittgenstein scholars had been hoping that Brian McGuinness's biography was going to be but wasn't. Valuable both for the philosopher and for the layperson who would perhaps like a better understanding of one of the century's most important philosophers. Contrary to the one reviewer below, the Bartley biography is one of the most notorious and irresponsible biographies of any philosopher of the 20th century. It is a travesty of scholarship, and an embarrassment to anyone with an critical eye. It is no secret that Wittgenstein was gay, but Bartley tries to prove (with no proof existing to this effect) that Wittgenstein engaged in a kind of sexual activity of the most promiscuous kind. His proof is of the sort: some guy I ran into in a gay bar in Manchester said he knew a guy who looked like Wittgenstein who liked to take rough boys out for a bit of fun. In short, we are not told who these sources were, which means that they cannot be further assessed as to reliability and veracity, not to mention the fact that his depiction of Wittgenstein contrasts markedly with what we know of Wittgenstein from well-documented sources. Not exactly the kind of evidence that scholars like to utilize in making their assertions. The Bartley biography suffers in equal parts from a lack of philosophical understanding on the part of Bartley and a willingness to credit the flimsiest sort of hearsay. The Toulmin and Janik book is much better than the Bartley (I am somewhat biased as I took two seminars with Toulmin), but it is an attempt to articulate Wittgenstein's intellectual and cultural background, and is more of a supplement to a biography rather than actually being a biography. The Monk biography is wonderfully human biography, which makes Wittgenstein come alive as a flesh and bone individual. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Wittgenstein or in 20th century philosophy.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely everything you want to know about Wittgenstein
Review: For any reader interested in Wittgenstein but put off by his actual writings because of their difficulty, this book is the place to go. Spanning Wittgenstein's entire life with an unbelievable amount of detail, Monk paints a vivid portrait of the 20th Century's most influential philosopher. (Read Monk's biography of Bertrand Russell, also excellent, when you finish this one.
Rating: 
Summary: BEWARE OF GROSSLY INFLATED REVIEWS
Review: I feel compelled to take a brief moment to warn review readers that this work in truth does little to enlighten anyone in any depth about the subject himself or his work.I am totally unable to account for the baseless praise heaped upon this paper weight of a biography.One can only speculate as to an explanation for such unmerited kudos. By way of comparison I note that I just finished the biography Jackson Pollock: An American Saga. Now that was an extremely well written work. The same cannot be said for this bloated and vagely informative tome that is a trial which pays no dividends.Please spare yourself the waste of your time and worthy energy. Unfortunately, I did not spare myself and persevered to the bitter end hoping beyond hope I would find some reward. I found no such thing and write this review and pray I spare atleast one person from suffering my fate. Read Pollock - a truly great and worthy work.
Rating:
Summary: Must reading for a better sense of the man
Review: I had been familiar with the Kenny book "Wittgenstein" and "Wittgenstein's Vienna" but after having read Monk's vol 1 on Russell knew this would be an excellent read. Oddly enough it left me with the question, "Are geniuses born or made?" Much of what Monk did for us with this book was give us a solid feel for the life of the person within which the philosophy could make sense. Why did Wittgenstein write the way he did? Answered. What issues drove him? Answered. I would say this book is must reading for a better sense of the man.
|
