Table of Contents

Ludwig Wittgenstein - Ray Monk Introduction
I. 1889-1919
1. The Laboratory for Self-destruction
2. Manchester
3. Russell's Protégé
4. Russell's Master
5. Norway
6. Behind the Lines
7. At the Front
II. 1919-1928
8. The Unprintable Truth
9. "An Entirely Rural Affair"
10. Out of the Wilderness
III. 1929-41
11. The Second Coming
12. The "Verificationist Phase"
13. The Fog Clears
14. A New Beginning
15. Francis
16. Language-games: The Blue and Brown Books
17. Joining the Ranks
18. Confessions
19. Finis Austriae
20. The Reluctant Professor
IV. 1941-51
21. War Work
22. Swansea
23. The Darkness of This Time
24. A Change of Aspect
25. Ireland
26. A Citizen of No Community
27. Storeys End
Appendix: Bartley's Wittgenstein and the Coded Remarks
References
Select Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Ray Monk is the author of Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius, for which he was awarded the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize.  He is also the author of Robert Oppenheimer and a two-volume biography of Bertrand Russell. He is a professor of philosophy at the University of Southampton.

Reviews

The veritable flood of writings about Wittgenstein--fiction as well as nonfiction--continues unabated, and this is a worthy addition. Monk gives a more balanced account of Wittgenstein's life and personality than does Brian McGuinness ( Wittgenstein: A Life; Young Ludwig, 1889-1921, LJ 9/15/88), insofar as he deals with Wittgenstein's homosexuality and goes into considerable detail about the three main relationships in Wittgenstein's life. Monk has done a great deal of research; what emerges is a portrait of a troubled, restless, creative mind, one destined, it seems, to be forever dissatisfied. Though not the last word on Wittgenstein's life--something on the order of a ``psychobiography'' must someday be written--this book is highly recommended.-- Leon H. Brody, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Lib., Washington, D.C.

Wittgenstein the philosopher and Wittgenstein the man have generated two largely separate industries. In a full-scale biography of him, British philosopher Monk tries to show that this possibly acutest and most influential mind of the century and the obsessional personality were one, driven by spiritual as much as by intellectual concerns. Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was born into one of the wealthiest families in Austria but gave away his entire inheritance; he fought in WW I, was Bertrand Russell's protege and then his master, became a reluctant Cambridge don who exchanged academia for solitude whenever possible and was drawn to younger men with brilliant minds. With access to Wittgenstein's papers, as well as to his friends, Monk has done an excellent job of elucidating the twin journeys of an extraordinary mind and soul, though it's not likely his insights into Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations will tempt many to do more than dip their feet in those decidedly choppy waters. (Oct.)