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Wonderful article for a short introduction into his work. He was a fascinating personality and his writings are extraordinary. He „only“ published two books in

Wonderful article for a short introduction into his work. He was a fascinating personality and his writings are extraordinary. He „only“ published two books in his lifetime, one being tractatus logico-philosophicus, the other being a dictionary for school children. Philosophical Investigations was published post-humously, but it is an excellent view into his mind. As mentioned in the article, there are no subsections, no table of contents. It consists of almost 700 paragraphs. You have to read it from beginning to end. Why I find that great in its own way? Maybe the analogy with the movie >Being John Malkovitch< may help: you are like a visitor in his head. Our thoughts are not tidy and ordered into sections. When you think about a problem (like he does with language and what it is and what it can do and what not), your mind wanders; you come across different issues, tackle them, then come back. It‘s like a written thought process. I can really recommend this book. Its language is easy. As soon as you get used to its style, you can follow.

halfjew22 8y ago
I completely agree with your sentiment on our thoughts. They aren't neat and tidy. People like to pretend they are, but this simply isn't true. It's also interesting to think about exactly where these thoughts come from. Where did the thought come from for example that invoked you opening up hacker news at the time you wrote this? Where does great intuition come from? It's all fascinating whether you prescribe to a theory that likens consciousness to that of thinking rocks or if you're incredibly spiritual and think of consciousness more as a radio signal that were tuned into at some arbitrary frequency when we're alive in Earth. If you're interested in being a visitor in ones mind, could I humbly request you check out my comment? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18814685 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18814685
- mbrock 8y ago
  “I should have liked to produce a good book. This has not come about, but the time is past in which I could improve it.” (Preface to Philosophical Investigations)
  - mrleiter 8y ago
    The preface is actually very fun to read. Very honest, quite cynical, too. >"[...] mainly because I was obliged to learn that my results (which I had communicated in lectures, typescripts and discussions), variously misunderstood, more or less mangled or watered down, were in circulation. This stung my vanity and I had difficulty in quieting it." Such bare honesty! I love it.

halfjew22 8y ago

I completely agree with your sentiment on our thoughts. They aren't neat and tidy. People like to pretend they are, but this simply isn't true. It's also interesting to think about exactly where these thoughts come from. Where did the thought come from for example that invoked you opening up hacker news at the time you wrote this? Where does great intuition come from? It's all fascinating whether you prescribe to a theory that likens consciousness to that of thinking rocks or if you're incredibly spiritual and think of consciousness more as a radio signal that were tuned into at some arbitrary frequency when we're alive in Earth. If you're interested in being a visitor in ones mind, could I humbly request you check out my comment? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18814685 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18814685

mbrock 8y ago
“I should have liked to produce a good book. This has not come about, but the time is past in which I could improve it.” (Preface to Philosophical Investigations)
- mrleiter 8y ago
  The preface is actually very fun to read. Very honest, quite cynical, too. >"[...] mainly because I was obliged to learn that my results (which I had communicated in lectures, typescripts and discussions), variously misunderstood, more or less mangled or watered down, were in circulation. This stung my vanity and I had difficulty in quieting it." Such bare honesty! I love it.