Product details
- ISBN 9780241484173
- Weight: 120g
- Dimensions: 129 x 197mm
- Publication Date: 28 Nov 2024
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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One of the greatest philosophical works of all time, in a new translation for the twenty-first century
'The final philosopher to perform the most profound surgery on philosophy ... concise yet exceptionally clear' Ai Weiwei
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; of science and mysticism; of what can be said, and what can only be shown. Its austere beauty – along with its famous ‘picture theory’ of meaning – has inspired generations of thinkers, artists, novelists and musicians. In a series of short, bold statements, Wittgenstein seeks to define the limits of meaningful expression. 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, accompanied by a lively introduction by Jan Zwicky, Alexander Booth displays an extraordinary sensitivity to the subtle influence on Wittgenstein's gem-like prose – at once specialist and, often, remarkably plain-spoken – of his background in mechanical engineering, while at the same time highlighting the underlying poetry of this seminal text.
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was born in Vienna in 1889 to a wealthy industrialist family and pursued an education in mechanical engineering before going on to study, and later to teach at the University of Cambridge, where he lived until his death in 1951. He is regarded by many as the greatest philosopher of the twentieth century, and his two major works, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921) and Philosophical Investigations (published posthumously in 1953), are two of the most influential works within the history of the analytic tradition.
Jan Zwicky (Introducer)
Jan Zwicky is a Canadian philosopher, poet, and musician. Her poetry collections include Songs for Relinquishing the Earth, The Long Walk and Wittgenstein Elegies. Her philosophical works include Lyric Philosophy, Wisdom & Metaphor and The Experience of Meaning.
Alexander Booth (Translator)
Alexander Booth is a poet and literary translator living in Berlin. The recipient of support from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts and Culture, the German Translators’ Fund and PEN America, his work from the German includes books by Friederike Mayröcker, Alexander Kluge, Gerhard Rühm and Lutz Seiler.
