Ludwig Wittgenstein
From Conservapedia
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (Vienna, 1889 - 1951) was an Austrian philosopher, the most influential of the twentieth century. He was pupil of Bertrand Russell and received the influence of Arthur Schopenhauer and Gottlob Frege.
Raised in a prominent Viennese family, Ludwig Wittgenstein studied engineering in Germany and England, but became interested in the foundations of mathematics and pursued philosophical studies with Moore at Cambridge before entering the Austrian army during World War I... Wittgenstein had a lifelong interest in religion and claimed to see every problem from a religious point of view, but never committed himself to any formal religion. [1]
Two "Wittgenstein"s
Wittgenstein wrote the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922) and Philosophical Investigations (1953); both concern with logic and language (Analytic philosophy).
Philosophers often refer to an "early" and "late" Wittgenstein as a result of the dichotomy between the views presented in the two works. The Tractatus put forward a view akin to Logical Positivism of complex propostions being constructed from basic "atomic" facts by the operation of logic. The Wittgenstein in the Tractatus recommended that where clear demonstrations of the both atomic facts and the logical operations behind a proposition cannot be given silence should ensue.
In contrast in the Investigations Wittgenstein denied the simplicity of the Tractatus and explored the complexities of language and meaning.
