Oh Wittgenstein

I could read memoirs forever. I never felt particularly strongly about them until my freshman year at Sarah Lawrence, when I took a course that examined the work of great psychologists alongside autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs about the psychologists themselves. Since then, I've found this to be the best way to truly understand things I am reading. I love to know the context in which the authors were writing, and the particular circumstances of their lives that led them to write as they did.


Today I read Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir by Norman Malcolm as part of my winter break assignment for my philosophy class. I got really into it and spent four hours curled up in a chair, drinking coffee and reading about this crazy man, and like I do, trying to figure out if he was a quality person. (I'm still undecided on that.) It's been a long time since I've been this excited about something I was required to read for class, but something about my complete lack of understanding of why anyone would devote their entire life to the study of philosophy even though it made them extremely depressed infinitely fascinates me.

Wittgenstein's snide little remarks throughout the memoir kept me going through the deeply philosophical parts. Little tidbits like his living in complete seclusion in a hut in Norway really made me admire him for his intense dedication to his work. (I have a very romantic view of living in complete seclusion, but this doesn't change the fact that I would love to do it for a bit. ) I firmly believe that one has to have a certain degree of craziness to be truly good at what you do.

One of my favorite bits in the book is a really cute "Wittgenstein is a little puffball who needs love too!" In a 1948 letter to Norman Malcolm, Wittgenstein said "I don't need conversations. What I'd like would be someone to smile at occasionally." Wittgenstein is the original spinster. He should have gotten a cat.

(This started out relatively academic and reputable and ends with me telling Wittgenstein to become a crazy cat lady. TAKE THAT INTERNET!)

P.S. Be careful if you do a Google image search for Wittgenstein. I just saw the weirdest Wittgenstein Disney furry porn. I kid you not. SAFE SEARCH ON!