Ludwig Wittgenstein

“To have brought all these remarks together in one volume is remarkable, for it is only here that one can see what terrible struggles Wittgenstein went through. It is a really valuable collection of remarks and an autobiography of a tormented soul.”
—P. M. S. Hacker, University of Oxford

Ludwig Wittgenstein was deeply interested in the significance of religion and ethics, yet he did not systematically examine religion and the meaning of life in his major published works. Although he never committed to a formal religion, Wittgenstein stated that he would at times explore fundamental issues from a religious perspective, engaging with issues concerning goodness, value, moral action, and other questions addressed by religious discourse.

In Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Meaning of Life, Joaquín Jareño-Alarcón offers new insights into how one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century understood matters concerning religion and ethics. Presenting a wide range of primary and secondary sources, this unique volume is the first compilation of its kind to explore Wittgenstein’s thoughts and attitudes on the significance of religion and ethics in his personal experience.

Each chronologically organized text is accompanied by detailed commentary, illustrating how Wittgenstein’s interests in religion and ethics were reflected throughout his personal and intellectual evolution. Throughout the book, personal commentaries, annotations, lecture notes, diary entries, and recollections of those closest to Wittgenstein reveal the philosopher’s ethical perspective on religion and his motivations as an individual.

Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Meaning of Life is essential reading for postgraduate and senior researchers involved in the study of Wittgenstein, as well as advanced philosophy students and non-specialists interested in Wittgenstein’s more humanistic writings and his engagement with religion and ethics.