Thought For The Day – Wednesday 29^th April 2026

Today, the 29^th of April 2026,  marks the 75^th anniversary of the death of perhaps the greatest philosopher of the 20^th century, Ludwig Wittgenstein.  In many ways, in his life, and in his interests, Ludwig Wittgenstein covers much of the whole school curriculum.

Ludwig Wittgenstein was born to a family of Jewish descent in Vienna, Austria in 1889.  His father, Karl, was a very prominent businessperson, though there very were challenging times in his family, with Ludwig’s three brothers suffering from severe depression, whilst Wittgenstein’s other brother, Paul, would become a renowned pianist, even though he lost an arm in the First World War.  Wittgenstein’s sister, Margaret,  was a friend and supporter of the ground-breaking psychologist Sigmund Freud, whilst musical composers, like Johannes Brahams, were regular visitors to the house.

In 1908, Wittgenstein moved to England to study Aeronautical Engineering at Manchester University. Three years later, Wittgenstein entered Cambridge University to study Mathematics and Logic, being taught by the great mathematician, and philosopher, Betrand Russell.  After time in Cambridge, Wittgenstein retreated to Norway to think further.

Between 1914 and 1918, Wittgenstein fought for Austria in the First World War. Notebooks he kept then were the foundation of his first philosophical text, published in 1921.

Wittgenstein is known for two distinct philosophies. In fact, he had the academic courage, integrity, and reflection, to completely change his views in his lifetime.   It was said that Wittgenstein wanted to clearly understand why things are, rather than win an argument.

Preoccupied with the meaning of words, as Philosophy generally focussed on the meaning of language at the beginning of the 20^th century, Wittgenstein was influenced by a French court case he attended, where a model in the court room represented an accident that had occurred.  Wittgenstein proposed that, when we meaningfully say words, we picture something that can be scientifically verified, or proved, using the evidence and the experiences of our senses. “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent”, was the final sentence of Wittgenstein’s first key philosophical work, which was set out in a numbered set of propositions and sentences.  Wittgenstein’s thinking here in many ways epitomises the scientific method and its importance.

And with that, it was said, Wittgenstein returned to Vienna to be, in turn,  an architect, designing a house for his sisters,  a gardener, and a primary school teacher, convinced he had solved the linguistic problems of Philosophy.

In 1929, Wittgenstein returned to Cambridge University, eventually becoming Professor of Philosophy.  In the Second World War, Wittgenstein, anonymously,  became a hospital porter at Guy’s Hospital in London, and, in Newcastle,  researched on the impact of wounds, using his mathematical skills with the treatment of burns. He felt he could not research and teach Philosophy whilst people suffered.

The later Wittgenstein realised his first philosophical theory needed modification, that it was too narrow. He came to see that language was fluid, and social, that we all play different “language games”,  in “forms of life”, with the meaning of words to some people being different to others.  So: “meaning is use” in language, a tool, which is practiced. “Black and Gold (and Green)” means something to T.B.S.H.S., for example.  This second philosophy encouraged further empathy and understanding. Wittgenstein believed that an essay he read critically questioning the legitimacy of tribes holding rain dances had missed the point of the social meaning of their culture and language.  He made a similar point about understanding the profound meaning of the bread and wine, representing the body and blood of Jesus,  at the Holy Communion in Christianity.

In individual spirit, temperament, and actions, though not in attachment to a particular organisation or institution, it was said that Wittgenstein was a deeply religious, spiritual, and mystical person, who prayed.  There may have been aspects of agnosticism equally in his complex beliefs.  He was attended to by a Catholic priest at the close of his life,  and received a Catholic funeral.  “Two things motivated Wittgenstein – philosophical clarity and moral decency – what he was trying to do always was to think clearly and behave decently”, states Ray Monk, who wrote a biography of Wittgenstein called “The Duty of Genius”.

Ludwig Wittgenstein died, from cancer,  in Cambridge on today’s date in 1951, aged 62.  Ludwig Wittgenstein’s grave, pictured below,  is at Ascension Parish Burial Ground on Huntingdon Road in Cambridge.

Suffering from terminal cancer, Ludwig Wittgenstein knew he was passing away from this life.  Just before he lost consciousness,  on the day before his passing, this austere (he had given away all his inheritance earlier in his life), intense, polite, and self-critical thinker, who lived Philosophy,  left a peaceful, appreciative,  and accepting message with Joan Bevan (the wife of his doctor). The message was to his friends, one of whom Elizabeth Anscombe would continue his legacy,  publishing his later work,  who were en route to visit the dying Wittgenstein.  The message was: “Tell them I’ve had a wonderful life”.