Hi Brad, You need to read Monk's bio. Wittgenstein renounced all his wealth right after he was released from an Italian POW camp in 1919. His thesis for his Ph.D (Cambridge - Russell and Whitehead advisors) was the Tractatus (considered by many as one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th century so it might be considered legit as a thesis) that he wrote as an Austrian soldier during the war. I wonder why he didn't use his family's enormous wealth to avoid that bloody war? Two of his brothers committed suicide. Your 'facts' about his playing architect are inaccurate. During the 1920s he spent 6 years as an elementary school teacher working with poor Austrian kids. He lived a monk-like existence from 1920 till his death in 1951.
Take care, Brian > mcandreb wrote: > > Hi Selma, > > Wittgenstein is behind Shotter. You need to get to know him. His > life > > must be appreciated in order to understand his writing. > > [snip] > > I don't think it hurt that Wittgenstein was a member of the > richest family in Austria. > > I don't think it hurt that he got his PhD in a genuinely > human way: The professors at wherever it was [Oxford or > Cambridge...] decided W. needed a doctorate to teach there. > So they convened a meeting where W lectured to them for > a couple hours and then they granted him the degree. > (I know an artist who got an MA basically that way.) > > Back to great wealth. Few persons get the opportunity to > play architect the way W did in his sisters' house: > When the house was almost done, he came on the > scene and had the roof raised a couple feet at great > expense. He took *two years* to find a foundry > that would cast the radiators to his satisfaction. > (There is a book on this: The Architecture > of Ludwig Wittgenstein", NYU Press.) > > (I feel that, if I had had such opportunities I might > have done a bit better in life than I have done.... But > we can agree, nonetheless, that W. did make > good use of his good fortune, unlike, e.g., a Dubya.) > > \brad mccormick > > -- > Let your light so shine before men, > that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16) > > Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21) > > <![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/ > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
