Synopses & Reviews
Review
"This is one of a series of similar, very brief and amusing books on philosophers (Descartes, Kant, etc.) by a journalist and novelist trained in philosophy who, with his 90-minute series, is keeping pace with the speed of modern life. Wittgenstein in 90 minutes—imagine! After a brief summary essay on the philosopher's life and works, which at best gives us the flavor or aroma of Wittgenstein's thought, we are presented with some well-known quotations from his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus; for example, 'The world is all that is the case,' and 'The facts in logical space are the world.' Not even 900 minutes will be enough for most of Strathern's uninitiated readers to grasp Wittgenstein's meaning." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
If we accept Wittgenstein's word for it, he is the last philosopher. In his view, philosophy in the traditional sense was finished. Ludwig Wittgenstein was a superb logician who distrusted language and sought to solve the problems of philosophy by reducing them to logic. All else--metaphysics, aesthetics, ethics, finally even philosophy itself--was excluded. "What we cannot speak about," he declared, "we must pass over in silence." In Wittgenstein in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Wittgenstein's life and ideas and explains their influence on man's struggle to understand his existence in the world. The book also includes selections from Wittgenstein's work, a brief list of suggested readings for those who wish to delve deeper, and chronologies that place Wittgenstein within his own age and in the broader scheme of philosophy.