Wittgenstein’s Family Letters: Corresponding with Ludwig by Brian McGuinness (PDF)

Description

Translated into English for the first time, the letters collected here bring to life one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century, Ludwig Wittgenstein.In letters written over forty years, we see how his ideas and relationships developed during his time as a prisoner of war, a school teacher, an architect and throughout his years at Cambridge. Always frank and often brutally honest, these letters between Wittgenstein, his brother Paul and his three sisters, Hermine, Margaret and Helene are filled with a familiarity and an intimacy. They allow us to enter the bygone world of an extraordinary family, revealing a side of Wittgenstein we have never seen before.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I’ve just been following Luki since grad school. A review in the LRB indicated that these letters showed him to be a friendly, sympathetic character – contra reputation. A riposte mentioned his schoolmaster punch severely damaging a young hemophiliac. Whatever, there’s not very much of substance here and if your bookshelves are full you can skip this one.

⭐For me, the book offered great insight into perhaps the greatest philosopher of the 20th century. It fleshed out Wittgenstein as a person and showed the evolution of his thinking from being almost a Logical Positivist to being open to aspects of Existentialism.

⭐During the past 35 years or so, I have read many books about Wittgenstein, including probably everything biographical, including the “Cambridge Letters,” which were worthwhile, because his main correspondent was Russell. But I put “Family Letters” aside after reading about one-third of it. Most of the letters I read are from Ludwig’s sister Hermine and are mundane; she expresses interest in and concern for her younger brother. Ludwig replies rarely and, when he does, he does so tersely. The only reason to have published these letters is that were preserved. Of course, it is possible that the second two-thirds of the book is better, but I was too bored by the first third to find out.

⭐A+

⭐I received ‘Wittgenstein’s Family Letters: Corresponding with Ludwig’ as a Christmas present. It has turned out to be an unalloyed delight. The English translations from the German read very well and the book is well designed with a clear and generous typeface. The bespoke editing is by one of the world’s leading Wittgenstein scholars and includes a genealogical map of the House of Wittgenstein, a glossary of People and Places mentioned in the letters, a concise and informative scene-setting introduction, and a wealth of photos some of which have never previously been published. In their quiet and subtle, and sometimes blunt and uncompromising way, these letters reveal much about Ludwig Wittgenstein’s life, times, thought and affections.

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