Ludwig Wittgenstein

By Ludwig Wittgenstein Translated by Bettina FunckeIntroduction by Désirée Weber Wittgenstein's dictionary for children: a rare and intriguing addition to the philosopher's corpus, in English for the first time. "Wittgenstein’s keen interest in how his students were learning the use of words and their spelling becomes clear through his justifications and explanations provided in the dictionary’s preface. His meticulous choices and attention to detail in how to construct the book helped to “guard [the student] against confusions in the best way possible.”—Désirée Weber, Lapham's Quarterly"A compelling artifact of a brilliant philosopher."—Thessaly La Force, T Magazine"I had never thought the dictionaries would be so frightfully expensive. I think, if I live long enough, I will produce a small dictionary for elementary schools. It appears to me to be an urgent need." —Ludwig WittgensteinIn 1925, Ludwig Wittgenstein, arguably one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, wrote a dictionary for elementary school children. His Wörterbuch für Volksschulen (Dictionary for Elementary Schools) was designed to meet what he considered an urgent need: to help his students learn to spell. Wittgenstein began teaching kids in rural Austria in 1920 after abandoning his life and work at Cambridge University. During this time there were only two dictionaries available. But one was too expensive for his students, and the other was too small and badly put together. So Wittgenstein decided to write one.Word Book is the first-ever English translation of Wörterbuch. This publication aims to encourage and reinvigorate interest in one of the greatest modern philosophers by introducing this gem of a work to a wider audience. Word Book also explores how Wörterbuch portends Wittgenstein's radical reinvention of his own philosophy and the enduring influence his thinking holds over how art, culture and language are understood.Word Book is translated by writer and art historian Bettina Funcke, with a critical introduction by scholar Désirée Weber, and accompanied with art by Paul Chan.Hardcover 96 pagesText in German and EnglishBadlands Unlimited, 20205.7 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches ISBN 9781943263240 Theory, Philosophy, Education

Word Book

By Allan Janik and Stephen Toulmin "A brilliantly conceived project admirably brought off."—Peter Caws"A striking premise...challenging, new, and useful."—The New York Times This is a remarkable book about a man (perhaps the most important and original philosopher of our age), a society (the corrupt Austro-Hungarian Empire on the eve of its dissolution), and a city (Vienna, with its fin-de-siècle gaiety and its corrosive melancholy). The central figure in this study of a crumbling society that gave birth to the modern world is Ludwig Wittgenstein, the brilliant and gifted young thinker. With others, including Freud, Viktor Adler, Arnold Schoenberg, Gustav Klimt, and Oskar Kokoschka, he forged his ideas in a classical revolt against the stuffy, doomed, and moralistic, lives of the old regime. As a portrait of Wittgenstein, the book is superbly realized; it is even better as a portrait of the age, with dazzling and unusual parallels to our own confused society. Paperback315 pages Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 19965.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inchesISBN 9781566631327 Austrian History, Theory, Philosophy

Wittgenstein’s Vienna

By A.C. Grayling "Anyone wanting to come to grips with the later Wittgenstein's views on philosophy, his beliefs about the nature of thought and language, and his many unignorable (if sometimes muddled and often muddling) ideas in the philosophy of the mind could do no better than start here."—Guardian"[Grayling] is to be congratulated on the success of his enterprise in a book which is a model of expository elgance...an admirably clear and concise introduction"—Philosophical Books Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was an extraordinarily original thinker, whose influence on twentieth-century thinking far outside the bounds of philosophy alone. In this engaging Introduction, A.C. Grayling makes Wittgenstein's thought accessible to the general reader by explaining the nature and impact of Wittgenstein's views. He describes both his early and later philosophy, the differences and connections between them, and gives a fresh assessment of Wittgenstein's continuing influence on contemporary thought. Paperback144 pagesOxford University Press, 20017 x 4.4 x 0.4 inchesISBN 9780192854117Philosophy

Wittgenstein: A Very Short Introduction

By Ludwig WittgensteinEdited and Translated by Marjorie Perloff "Private Notebooks: 1914-1916 is a strange and intriguing record — illuminating when it comes to Wittgenstein’s preoccupations, his sexual anguish, his continuous struggles with his ‘work’ in philosophy, along with his intermittent comments about his ‘job’ in the military... The war meant that Wittgenstein — and therefore his philosophizing — had changed... This transformation comes across as bewildering and almost unbearably moving. The notebooks show the circumstances in which Wittgenstein’s mystical turn toward the end of the ‘Tractatus’ was born — not in an attempt to escape that world, but in a determination to immerse himself in it."—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times New Yorker • Best Books of 2022Literary Hub • Most Anticipated Books of 2022 Written in code under constant threat of battle, Wittgenstein’s searing and illuminating diaries finally emerge in this first-ever English translation. During the pandemic, Marjorie Perloff, one of our foremost scholars of global literature, found her mind ineluctably drawn to the profound commentary on life and death in the wartime diaries of eminent philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951). Upon learning that these notebooks, which richly contextualize the early stages of his magnum opus, the Tractatus-Logico-Philosophicus, had never before been published in English, the Viennese-born Perloff determinedly set about translating them. Beginning with the anxious summer of 1914, this historic, en-face edition presents the first-person recollections of a foot soldier in the Austrian Army, fresh from his days as a philosophy student at Cambridge, who must grapple with the hazing of his fellow soldiers, the stirrings of a forbidden sexuality, and the formation of an explosive analytical philosophy that seemed to draw meaning from his endless brushes with death. Much like Tolstoy’s The Gospel in Brief, Private Notebooks takes us on a personal journey to discovery as it augments our knowledge of Wittgenstein himself. Paperback240 pages Liveright, 20256.3 x 9.4 inches ISBN 9781324096290 Theory, Philosophy

Private Notebooks: 1914-1916 [paperback]

By Wolfram Eilenberger “[A] fascinating and accessible account . . . In his entertaining book, Mr. Eilenberger shows that his magicians’ thoughts are still worth collecting, even if, with hindsight, we can see that some performed too many intellectual conjuring tricks.”—Wall Street JournalA grand narrative of the intertwining lives of Walter Benjamin, Martin Heidegger, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Ernst Cassirer, major philosophers whose ideas shaped the twentieth centuryThe year is 1919. The horror of the First World War is fresh for the protagonists of Time of the Magicians, each of whom finds himself at a crucial juncture. Benjamin is trying to flee his overbearing father and floundering in his academic career, living hand to mouth as a critic. Wittgenstein, by contrast, has dramatically decided to divest himself of the monumental fortune he stands to inherit, in search of spiritual clarity. Meanwhile, Heidegger, having managed to avoid combat in war by serving as a meteorologist, is carefully cultivating his career. Finally, Cassirer is working furiously on the margins of academia, applying himself to his writing and the possibility of a career at Hamburg University. The stage is set for a great intellectual drama, which will unfold across the next decade. The lives and ideas of this extraordinary philosophical quartet will converge as they become world historical figures. But as the Second World War looms on the horizon, their fates will be very different. Paperback432 pagesPenguin Books, 20206.32 x 1.39 x 9.53 inchesISBN 9780525559689History, Theory and Aesthetics

Time of the Magicians: Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Cassirer, Heidegger, and the Decade That Reinvented Philosophy

By Ludwig Wittgenstein Edited by G.E.M. Anscombe This book comprises material on colour which was written by Wittgenstein in the last eighteen months of his life. It is one of the few documents that concentrate on a single philosophical issue. The principal theme is the features of different colours, of different kinds of colour (metallic colour, the colours of flames, etc.) and of luminosity—a theme which Wittgenstein treats in such a way as to destroy the traditional idea that colour is a simple and logically uniform kind of thing. Paperback63 pagesText in English and German University of California Press, 20075.3 x 0.3 x 8.4 inchesISBN 9780520251793Philosophy

Remarks on Colour

By Anthony Gottlieb The first biography in more than three decades of the Austrian-born thinker Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century “An engrossing biography [that] focuses on what is most essential and interesting in the philosopher’s work and life. . . . It is rare to find a book that you can open at random and almost always find something that piques your interest.”—Julian Baggini, Wall Street Journal “Very clear and lively and interesting.”—Nigel Warburton, Five Books, “Best Philosophy Books of 2025” According to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), philosophy is a “battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.” This audacious idea changed the way many of its practitioners saw their subject. In the first biography of Wittgenstein in more than three decades, Anthony Gottlieb evaluates this revolutionary idea, explaining the evolution of Wittgenstein’s thought and his place in the history of philosophy. Wittgenstein was born into an immensely rich Viennese family but yearned to live a simple life, and he gave away his inheritance. After studying with Bertrand Russell in Cambridge, he wrote his famous Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus while serving in World War I. He then took several positions as a primary-school teacher in rural Austria before returning as a fellow to Cambridge, where a cultlike following developed around him. Wittgenstein worked not only as a philosopher and schoolteacher, but also as an aeronautical engineer in Manchester and as an architect in Vienna. Gottlieb’s meticulously researched book traces the itinerant and troubled life of Wittgenstein, the development of his influential ideas, and the Viennese intellectual milieu and family background that shaped him. Hardcover232 Pages, 6 Black and White IllustrationsYale Books, 20255.75 x 8.25 InchesISBN 9780300180473Theory and Aesthetics, Philosophy, Biography

Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophy in the Age of Airplanes

By Ludwig Wittgenstein Introduction by Jan Zwicky Translated by Alexander Booth One of the greatest philosophical works of all time, in a new translation for the twenty-first century Widely regarded as one of the most influential philosophical works of the twentieth century, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is a succinct yet wide-ranging exploration of language and logic, science and mysticism, which has inspired generations of thinkers, artists and poets. In a series of short, bold statements, Wittgenstein seeks to define the limits of language, its relation to logic, its power and its inherent failings. Originally published in the early 1920s, it is the only book-length work the renowned philosopher published in his lifetime. In this thrilling new translation, Alexander Booth displays an extraordinary sensitivity to the subtle influence on Wittgenstein’s gem-like prose–at once specialist and, often, remarkably plain-spoken–considering his background in mechanical engineering, while highlighting the underlying poetry of this seminal text. Paperback 144 pages Penguin Classics, 2025 5.06 x 7.76 inches ISBN 9780241484173 Philosophy

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: The New Translation

By Noemi SchneiderTranslated from the German by Marshall YarbroughIllustrated by Golden Cosmos"The story succeeds as both a philosophical dialogue and a classic tale of bedtime delaying tactics. . . Marshall Yarbrough’s charming translation from the German shines, especially in the — plot twist! — excellent backmatter, which discusses the original rhinoceros debate and explains what philosophers do."―Mac Barnett ― The New York TimesDoes something exist even if you can’t see it? A humorous bedtime story for budding philosophers.“There's a rhinoceros in my room!” Ludwig claims. His father doesn't think so. He looks for the huge pachyderm in every corner, but he just can't find it. There CANNOT be a rhinoceros in Ludwig's room. It's way too small for a rhinoceros. But Ludwig shows his father that something can be there, even if you can't see it.Young children will love pointing out the rhinoceros in each spread. Older children will enjoy thinking about how the moon is still there even when we can’t see it. Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein discussed the power and the limitations of language with his professor Bertrand Russell: how even if you don’t see something, it can still be there. These philosophical discussions are the basis for Noemi Schneider's hilarious and thoughtful story. The Berlin duo GOLDEN COSMOS, who work with their characteristic screen printing style for international magazines, are now illustrating a picture book for the first time.Hardcover40 pagesAge range: 4-8 yearsNorthSouth Books, 20238.46 x 0.4 x 11 inchesISBN 9780735845275Children's Book, Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ludwig and the Rhinoceros

By Edward Kanterian Ludwig Wittgenstein is generally considered as the greatest philosopher since Immanuel Kant, and his personal life, work, and his historical moment intertwined in a fascinating, complex web. Noted scholar Edward Kanterian explores these intersections in Ludwig Wittgenstein, the newest title in the acclaimed Critical Lives series. Wittgenstein’s works—from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus to the posthumously published Philosophical Investigations­—are notoriously dense, and Kanterian carefully distills them here, proposing thought-provoking new interpretations. Yet the philosopher’s passions were not solely confined to theoretical musings, and the book explores Wittgenstein’s immersion in art and music and his social position as a member of the sophisticated Viennese upper class at the turn of the century. His personal and professional relationships also offer insights into his thoughts, as he was friends with the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century, including John Maynard Keynes, George Edward Moore, Bertrand Russell, and Gilbert Royle. The philosopher was also deeply tormented by ethical and religious questions, and his internal turmoil, Kanterian argues, gives us a deeper understanding of the important conflicts and tensions of his age. Ultimately, the author contends, Wittgenstein’s life reveals insights into the ethical quandaries of our own time. A readable and concise account, Ludwig Wittgenstein is an informative, accessible introduction to the one of the greatest thinkers of our age. Paperback222 pages5 x 0.6 x 7.9 inchesReaktion Books, 2007ISBN 9781861893208Philosophy, Biography

Ludwig Wittgenstein (Critical Lives)

By David Edmonds and John EidinowOn October 25, 1946, in a crowded room in Cambridge, England, the great twentieth-century philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper came face to face for the first and only time. The meeting—which lasted ten minutes—did not go well. Their loud and aggressive confrontation became the stuff of instant legend, but precisely what happened during that brief confrontation remained for decades the subject of intense disagreement.An engaging mix of philosophy, history, biography, and literary detection, Wittgenstein's Poker explores, through the Popper/Wittgenstein confrontation, the history of philosophy in the twentieth century. It evokes the tumult of fin-de-siécle Vienna, Wittgentein's and Popper's birthplace; the tragedy of the Nazi takeover of Austria; and postwar Cambridge University, with its eccentric set of philosophy dons, including Bertrand Russell. At the center of the story stand the two giants of philosophy themselves—proud, irascible, larger than life—and spoiling for a fight. Paperack352 pagesHarper Collins Publishers, 20025.4 x 7.2 inchesISBN 9780060936648

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Ludwig Wittgenstein

Word Book

Wittgenstein’s Vienna

Wittgenstein: A Very Short Introduction

Private Notebooks: 1914-1916 [paperback]

Time of the Magicians: Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Cassirer, Heidegger, and the Decade That Reinvented Philosophy

Remarks on Colour

Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophy in the Age of Airplanes

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: The New Translation

Ludwig and the Rhinoceros

Ludwig Wittgenstein (Critical Lives)

Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers

Shop at Neue Ludwig Wittgenstein

Word Book

Wittgenstein’s Vienna

Wittgenstein: A Very Short Introduction

Private Notebooks: 1914-1916 [paperback]

Time of the Magicians: Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Cassirer, Heidegger, and the Decade That Reinvented Philosophy

Remarks on Colour

Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophy in the Age of Airplanes

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: The New Translation

Ludwig and the Rhinoceros

Ludwig Wittgenstein (Critical Lives)

Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers

Shop at Neue
Ludwig Wittgenstein