It's time to settle this: In regards to Wittgenstein's mistreatment of young school children, was said mistreatment A.) Horrendous and deplorable B.) Based C.) Made out to be worse than it actually was D.) Inconsequential to his body of work E.) Reflective of his work
The facts: Wittgenstein was said to have "caned the boys and boxed their ears, and also pulled the girls' hair". This was not unusual at the time for boys, but for the villagers he went too far in doing it to the girls too; girls were not expected to understand algebra, much less have their ears boxed over it. Also: He quickly became a village legend, shouting "Krautsalat!" ("coleslaw" – i.e. shredded cabbage) when the headmaster played the piano, and "Nonsense!" when a priest was answering children's questions. Read Monk's biography of Wittgenstein if you want more details.
>"My wife gave him [Wittgenstein] some Swiss cheese and rye bread for lunch, which he greatly liked. Thereafter he more or less insisted on eating bread and cheese at all meals, largely ignoring the various dishes that my wife prepared. Wittgenstein declared that it did not much matter to him what he ate, so long as it always remained the same. When a dish that looked especially appetizing was brought to the table, I sometimes exclaimed "Hot Ziggety!" --- a slang phrase that I learned as a boy in Kansas. Wittgenstein picked up this expression from me. It was inconceivably droll to hear him exclaim "Hot Ziggety!" when my wife put the bread and cheese before him." -Norman Malcolm, in Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir (1966), p. 85
I’d argue that his going back years later to apologize is reflective of his therapeutic approach to philosophy, though admittedly the act was more for him to have closure than to really make a difference in the kids’ lives.
Ludwig Wolfenstein is my favorite philosopher because he proved Godel's completeness theorems using logic itself.
Aaron Davis
Set back philosophy 100 years, he and his cult followers.
Gavin Brown
Please explain why you think this, I'm legitimately curious.
Michael Diaz
I bet he loves continental philosophy because reading big books make him feel smart opposed to stem "npcs" (analytics) who have already proven that all truths are knowable.
Xavier Price
>Philosophy as progression Lmaaaaaaoooooo
Ethan Bailey
Wait, was this when he was a kid or an adult himself?
Daniel Allen
Witty is too cute.
Christian Foster
more like the Tractatus Incelo-Virginicus
Charles James
>"Proven" >"All truths" >"Knowable God is this what analytics actually think? This is like a smug self delusion
Michael Cooper
>A.) Horrendous and deplorable >B.) Based Is it strange that I feel both these things about it? Human multiplicity
Nolan Lewis
Adult, between world wars
Oliver Morales
>"Many of the long conversation I had with him [Wittgenstein] would inevitably diverge into the most erratic instances of scandal. One time after dinner, when my wife walked into the room with the tray of confectioneries and coffee, he stated to her point blank: "Milk is for the pussy." My wife and I both wavered with mouths agape but his eyes remained resolutely fixed upon my wife's. "Don't you agree?" he inquired. He would grow more and more agitated until my wife at last agreed. Then, as became perfect habit for him, he would take a saucer of milk and put it upon the floor, insisting that my wife lift her dress and sit in it. He could never be dissuaded from his demands and my wife would always, terror-stricken and face watered with tears, submit to the humiliating circumstance that our esteemed friend demanded. "Yes, Yes!" he would shout as my wife squatted tearfully upon the saucer, "Milk is for the pussy! Absolutely so!" " -Norman Malcolm, in Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir (1966), p. 118
