Ray Monk – Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius - Review

Even for those not acquainted with analytical philosophy or the subject of philosophy in general, the name Ludwig Wittgenstein will sound familiar. He is known in some circles as the "tortured genius" as his life was a passionate and agonising battle to be true to his nature and to discover `real' philosophy with the intent of putting an end to the subject all together. Some believed he achieved this end - the man certainly re-directed philosophical enquiry in our modern times. The problem with most of us lesser creatures, understanding Wittgenstein's thought and work is a momentous task.

If you have had the pleasure or tormenting experience of reading or studying his Tractatus Logico-philosophicus or Philosophical Investigations, or one or two of the literally thousands of commentaries and secondary sources on his work, you will comprehend or at least relate to the complexity of his thought.

The Duty of Genius is a great philosophical biography because the author has managed to elegantly connect Wittgenstein the man, his spiritual concerns and emotional preoccupations, with his philosophy, in one flowing, well-written narrative. I came away from this book with greater insight into analytical philosophy and a deep appreciation of the man himself.
Wittgenstein was one of the most opinionated men I have ever read about. In fact he had an opinion on just about everything, particularly music. He believed that no other music after Brahms was worth listening to and Mozart and Beethoven are the true "son's of God".

He loved reading American detective stories and believed our so-called modern age is a dark age in all respects. Similar to a good pragmatist, he believed that knowledge and doing, action, were intimately connected. He had a privileged up bringing in pre WW1 Vienna, a fascinating, tumultuous and highly creative period before the fall of the Austrian Hungarian Empire. He was a neighbour of Sigmund Freud and went to the same Primary school as Adolph Hitler. (Both remembered each other later in life during WW2.)

Ludwig inherited a large fortune and ended up giving most of it away. He wrote his first major work, The Tractatus, while a prisoner of war in Italy. All of these things are wonderfully described in the biography, but Monk has managed to convey something about the man that is hard to define, and that was his magnetic personality. Wittgenstein's magical presence is legendary and the numerous anecdotes described by Monk, I believe, truly gives the reader a vivid sense of this presence, his genius comes through loud and clear in this book. And this is what makes this biography so moving and interesting.

This biography will not give the reader a full comprehension of Wittgenstein's philosophy, however, as an introduction, putting the man and his work into their proper historical context, the clouds begin to dissipate and a glimmer of understanding begins to appear - extremely engaging, informative, well-written and entertaining.