Ludwig Wittgenstein

By Ray Monk,

Book cover of Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius

Book description

"Great philosophical biographies can be counted on one hand. Monk's life of Wittgenstein is such a one." The Christian Science Monitor.


Shepherd is reader supported.
We may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through links on our website. This is how we fund the project for readers and authors. Please join our membership program to support our endeavor.

Why read it?

2 authors picked Ludwig Wittgenstein as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Wittgenstein is the key philosopher of how what we do and what we think combine to give us a view of the world and a set of things we take for granted – our ‘form of life’.  It is almost impossibly hard to read his book, Philosophical Investigations and, in any case, philosophers disagree about what it means.  But Monk entertainingly and interestingly explains his ideas through his biography: he makes Wittgenstein’s later philosophy readily comprehensible. 

From Harry's list on making reality.

Who was Ludwig Wittgenstein? And what did he say or do that might be of interest to anyone who is not a professional philosopher? This clear-minded, prize-winning biography presents Wittgenstein’s work and life as a moral calling, tracing his path from a wealthy family in Vienna to Cambridge, where he astounded Bertrand Russell with his grasp and critique of his book on logic, Principia Mathematica. Wittgenstein carried the manuscript of his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus in his rucksack during world war I, where he experienced “the terrors of war” serving as a corporal in the Austrian army. After he published his…

From Russell's list on philosophy and human life.

Want books like Ludwig Wittgenstein?

Our community of 7,000+ authors has personally recommended 10 books like Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Browse books like Ludwig Wittgenstein

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Austria, philosophers, and Ludwig Wittgenstein?

7,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Austria, philosophers, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Austria Explore 39 books about Austria
Philosophers Explore 26 books about philosophers
Ludwig Wittgenstein Explore 9 books about Ludwig Wittgenstein