Ludwig Wittgenstein

Throughout time there have been many important philosophers who, with their contribution, have managed to establish important aspects within this science. It is important to mention that philosophy can be studied in many different ways and the contributions that these scholars make greatly contribute to the discipline. Ludwig Wittgenstein’s contributions to philosophy and also to the field of language were very important and continue to prevail today.

Ludwig Wittgenstein Biography

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was born on April 26 of the year 1889 in the city of Vienna . The son of a very wealthy family and the son of Leopoldine Kalmus , a well-known local businessman, and Karl Wittgenstein , a woman of Jewish origin. His initial studies were carried out in Linz and Berlin . When this stage ended, he moved to Great Britain to be able to take an engineering degree at the renowned University of Manchester .

He also studied mathematics at Trinity College located in Cambridge and later devoted himself to studying logic and philosophy . For a short time, he served as a soldier in the fields of the Austro-Hungarian army , when World War I was just beginning, however, he was captured and was imprisoned for a couple of years in Italy, in a camp.

He worked as a teacher in Austria and died in Cambridge a 29 April 1951 . His cause of death was prostate cancer, a disease for which he refused to receive any type of treatment.

Thought

In the thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein he had two different periods in his thought and in them can be found his most relevant literary creations . It is for this reason that experts speak of a first and then a second Wittgenstein . His first period was characterized by his book called ” Tractatus logico-philosophicus “ , a text in which he thought he had managed to solve all the questions about the field of philosophy. It is in this period that he manages to capture and manifest his type of logical thinking through some short texts that were directed mainly for his teachers.

For him, thought was a representation of the world as a kind of proposition that had meaning. For this, he also took into account logic and tried to show the way in which language fails to express ideas using meanings. His way of thinking can be divided into seven important premises, which are:

• The world is equal to everything that happens.
• What happens , the facts, are “states of affairs.”
• A logical representation of the facts is itself a thought.
• A thought is a type of proposition that has meaning.
• A proposition is a function of the most elementary propositions, and these are functions of truth.
• The general way that they have a real function .
• With regard to what cannot be spoken , one must remain silent .

The second part of his thought is known as philosophical investigations where the philosopher showed himself with a greater training and with more knowledge after his preparation in Vienna. At this stage, his thinking was more focused on the pragmatic origin of language and he spent a long time as a teacher.

Ludwig Wittgenstein theories

The theory that was proposed by Ludwig Wittgenstein explained the way in which language can refer to the world and at the same time describe it. In it, he considers that language is a type of isomorphic representation , a model that represents the world. Explain that thought and language make sense and also have reference because they are a type of figures or representations about things that exist in the world.

Contributions of Ludwig Wittgenstein

His main contribution was made in the field of language as he placed it as the main center of attention within contemporary thought . He hinted that the human being has the ability to handle language in a very spontaneous but at the same time reflective way, being able at the same time to generate a series of errors or paradoxes. He pointed out that, despite this, an exact description of what is seen can be made by eliminating the possible ambiguities that are usually present.

Importance

Ludwig Wittgenstein was a philosopher of great importance for the field of philosophy and language because thanks to his ideas, knowledge and contributions, it was possible to establish and make a description about the true importance of the proper study of language and implied that it is through it that knowledge about reality can really be reached . In addition, thanks to his thought he managed to describe the way in which ideas can originate in language in order to explain what the reality of the universe is , which is, at the same time, the primary purpose of the field of philosophy .

Plays

The main works of Ludwig Wittgenstein were the following:

Tractatus logico-philosophicus

This was his first written work or book and consists of a text that presents an explanation of the operation of logic in order to show that this is the main structure on which the descriptive language must be established . It is related to language , with the world and with thinking in a logical way to be able to make figures of the world in order to be able to describe it.

Philosophical investigations

In this text, he raises the thought known as the second Wittgenstein and the main characteristic is the change in perspective and paradigm in the study of language seen from a philosophical point of view . It ensures that the meaning and meaning of words is found in their function and the use that is made of them within the language. Show your idea of ​​how language is a group of games that are run by their own rules.

The blue and brown notebooks

In this series of notes that were prepared by the author, some of his reflections on thought and its functionality through signs are reflected . In it he also talks about language games.

About the certainty

This was the last work of Ludwig Wittgenstein and in it he mentions that he is certain about the possible mistake. His concept tries to show the way in which the doubts and thoughts of erratic human beings can make no sense or can even be incomprehensible due to the games that are given in the language.

Phrases

Some of the most recognized phrases of Ludwig Wittgenstein were the following:

• Of the things that cannot be spoken it is necessary to be silent.
• What is expressed must be said in a clear way.
• Imagining a language means being able to imagine a way of life.
• Revolutionary is the person who can revolutionize himself.
• Wisdom is gray. On the contrary, life and religion are of different colors.
• A new word is equal to a seed that is thrown into the territory of discussion.
• The world is everything that happens.