Ludwig Wittgenstein is one of the most influential—and most misunderstood—philosophers of the 20th century. He was also an eccentric aristocrat who gave away his fortune, volunteered for the front lines despite poor health, insulted his students, designed a house with terrifying precision, and even attended the same school in Linz as a young Adolf Hitler (though whether they actually shared a classroom remains a tantalizing mystery). Wittgenstein in Plain English cuts through the myths, jargon, and academic fog to show what Wittgenstein was really about. This book traces his extraordinary life and unpacks his philosophy in language that doesn’t require a philosophy degree (or a tolerance for footnotes that stretch across three pages). Inside you’ll find: A vivid portrait of Wittgenstein’s turbulent life—from Vienna’s glittering salons to muddy trenches and back to the lecture halls of Cambridge. His eccentricities, obsessions, and struggles, including his sexuality, his suicidal thoughts, and his uneasy visit to the Soviet Union. A clear, lively tour through his two great works: the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the Philosophical Investigations. Explanations of his key ideas: language games, meaning as use, family resemblance, forms of life, and the private language argument. His reflections on ethics, art, religion, mathematics, and certainty—where words break down and silence begins. The story of his disciples, critics, and the peculiar role he came to play in both analytic and continental philosophy. Wittgenstein wanted philosophy to stop building castles in the sky and instead clean up the mess we make with words. He thought philosophy was less about solving riddles and more about showing the fly the way out of the fly-bottle. This book shows why everyone—from logicians to poets, from theologians to computer scientists—has tried to claim Wittgenstein as their own, and why he continues to haunt philosophy today. Readable, ironic, and unsentimental, Wittgenstein in Plain English offers both newcomers and seasoned readers a chance to encounter this strange prophet of ordinary language—without needing to climb a ladder made of barbed wire.
