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18 · Books

Books

Wittgenstein published one philosophical book in his lifetime. Almost everything else was edited from his manuscripts after 1951. Here is every book in the order it was written, with what it says, how hard it is and an honest verdict.

  1. 1914

    Notebooks 1914-1916

    Tagebücher 1914-1916

    The diaries Wittgenstein kept as a soldier in the First World War: the workshop where the Tractatus was built, from logic to God and the meaning of life.

    Written 1914-1917Published 1960
  2. 1914

    Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

    Logisch-philosophische Abhandlung (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus)

    Wittgenstein's only book published in his lifetime: seventy pages on how language pictures the world, what can only be shown, and why the book calls itself nonsense.

    Written 1914-1918Published 1921
  3. 1924

    Dictionary for elementary schools

    Wörterbuch für Volksschulen

    The spelling dictionary Wittgenstein compiled for Austrian village children in 1926: his second book, without a word of philosophy, and yet revealing.

    Written 1924-1925Published 1926
  4. 1929

    Some remarks on logical form

    Some Remarks on Logical Form

    Wittgenstein's only academic paper, written in 1929 and disowned at once: the colour exclusion problem and the first crack in the Tractatus.

    Written 1929Published 1929
  5. 1929

    A lecture on ethics

    A Lecture on Ethics

    The only popular lecture Wittgenstein ever gave: a short talk on absolute value, wonder at the world and why ethics tries to say what cannot be said.

    Written 1929Published 1965
  6. 1929

    Philosophical remarks

    Philosophische Bemerkungen

    The book Wittgenstein assembled in 1930, a year after his return to Cambridge: the Tractatus starts to crack, and grammar takes the place of logical form.

    Written 1929-1930Published 1964
  7. 1932

    The Big Typescript

    The Big Typescript (TS 213)

    A 768-page typescript from 1932-1933, the most book-like thing Wittgenstein made between the Tractatus and the Investigations. Published in full only in 2000.

    Written 1932-1933Published 2000
  8. 1932

    Philosophical grammar

    Philosophische Grammatik

    Rush Rhees's 1969 edition of Wittgenstein's revisions of the Big Typescript: meaning, understanding and rules in Part I, logic and mathematics in Part II.

    Written 1932-1934Published 1969
  9. 1933

    The Blue and Brown Books

    The Blue and Brown Books (Preliminary Studies for the "Philosophical Investigations")

    Two sets of notes Wittgenstein dictated in English at Cambridge in 1933-1935. Clear, full of examples, and the gentlest way into his later philosophy.

    Written 1933-1935Published 1958
  10. 1931

    Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough

    Bemerkungen über Frazers Golden Bough

    Sharp notes from 1931 and later against James Frazer's idea that magic and ritual are primitive science gone wrong. Wittgenstein's most direct text on ritual.

    Written 1931; second set after 1936Published 1967
  11. 1937

    Remarks on the foundations of mathematics

    Bemerkungen über die Grundlagen der Mathematik

    Notes from 1937-1944 on proof, calculation and rules, published in 1956. Wittgenstein's toughest later book, and the source of much of his thinking on rule-following.

    Written 1937-1944Published 1956
  12. 1936

    Philosophical investigations

    Philosophische Untersuchungen

    Wittgenstein's second masterpiece (1953): meaning as use, language games, rules and the private language argument. What it says, which edition to buy and how to read it.

    Written 1936-1949Published 1953
  13. 1929

    Zettel

    A box of 717 slips Wittgenstein cut from his own typescripts, published in 1967. Short remarks on thinking, pain, imagination and philosophy: the most browsable of his later books.

    Written 1929-1948 (mostly 1945-1948)Published 1967
  14. 1946

    Remarks on the philosophy of psychology

    Bemerkungen über die Philosophie der Psychologie

    Two volumes of remarks from 1946-1948 on seeing-as, belief, intention and knowing other minds, published in 1980. The fullest record of Wittgenstein's late philosophy of mind.

    Written 1946-1948Published 1980
  15. 1948

    Last writings on the philosophy of psychology

    Letzte Schriften über die Philosophie der Psychologie

    Two volumes of Wittgenstein's last notebooks on the mind: the workshop of Investigations Part II, and his late thoughts on the inner and the outer.

    Written 1948-1951Published 1982
  16. 1950

    Remarks on colour

    Bemerkungen über die Farben

    Wittgenstein's late notebooks on colour, sparked by Goethe: why there is no transparent white or reddish green, and why these are puzzles about concepts rather than about light.

    Written 1950-1951Published 1977
  17. 1949

    On certainty

    Über Gewißheit

    Wittgenstein's last notebooks, written in reply to G.E. Moore: why some certainties are not knowledge, and why doubt only works against a background that is not doubted.

    Written 1949-1951Published 1969
  18. 1914

    Culture and value

    Vermischte Bemerkungen

    Wittgenstein's remarks on music, religion, art and himself, written between 1914 and 1951 and selected by von Wright: the most personal and most quoted of his books.

    Written 1914-1951Published 1977