Ludwig Wittgenstein

From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), born in Austria and educated at Cambridge under the tutelage of Bertrand Russell and G. E. Moore, is one of the most important philosophers in the tradition of analytical philosophy. His best-known works are Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations, which represent the "early" and "late" periods of his philosophy. Wittgenstein is especially well-known for the view found in the Tractatus, similar to that held by the logical positivists, that much of philosophy is nonsense, and the view found in the Philosophical Invesigations that many ordinary words like "game" are not susceptible to analysis or definition.