LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN: THE TRACTATUS ODYSSEY

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1 15. Oct. 30. Nov EXHIBITION BKI Haus Wittgenstein TRINITY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE IVC LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN: THE TRACTATUS ODYSSEY

2 EXHIBITION LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN: THE TRACTATUS ODYSSEY VIENNA, 15 OCTOBER 30 NOVEMBER 2018 Bulgarian Cultural Institute Haus Wittgenstein, Parkgasse 18, 1030 Vienna A WITTGENSTEIN INITIATIVE PROJECT IN COOPERATION WITH BKI Haus Wittgenstein University of Bergen Research Institute Brenner-Archiv Trinity College Cambridge Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Institute Vienna Circle Center for Global Dialogue and Cooperation Vienna HONORARY COMMITTEE: HE Bente Angell-Hansen, Ambassador of the Kindgom of Norway to Austria Allan Janik, University of Innsbruck Monica Nagler-Wittgenstein, PEN Club Sweden Eva Nowotny, Austrian Commission for UNESCO Marjorie Perloff, Stanford University, American Academy of Arts and Sciences HE Ivan Sirakov, Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria Friedrich Stadler, Institute Vienna Circle, Austrian Wittgenstein Society HE Peter Stoyanov, former President of Bulgaria Christian Witt-Dörring, Neue Galerie New York

3 TRACTATUS LOGICO-PHILOSOPHICUS In August 1918 Ludwig Wittgenstein dictated the final version of his Logical-Philosophical Treatise, a work which later became famous under the title Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. All of that which many are babbling today, I have defined in my book by remaining silent about it. Wittgenstein to Ludwig von Ficker, October 1919 The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is one of the groundbreaking works in the history of philosophy and its uniqueness challenges our perception to this day. Wittgenstein s intention was to express philosophical understanding more as a poetic composition. As in poetry, what one wants to say cannot be said outright, but must be conveyed in another way: it has to be shown. The complex theory of language developed by Wittgenstein had an enormous influence not only on philosophy, but extended also to literature, music, film, painting, architecture, anthropology, and economics. THE EXHIBITION Ludwig Wittgenstein s personal and philosophic journey from 1912 to1922 is illuminated through multimedia, photos, and letters against the backdrop of one of the most dramatic periods in world history. Wittgenstein was the son of one of the great industrialists and patrons of the arts in the Habsburg monarchy and the culture of Vienna 1900 remained a life-long influence on him. After initial studies in engineering in Manchester, Wittgenstein moved to philosophy and to Cambridge, where he became a pupil and close friend of Bertrand Russell. In 1913 he left the academic world and Viennese society and withdrew to the Sognjefjord in Norway, to concentrate undisturbed on his work on the nature of the logic. On the eve of WWI,

4 Wittgenstein donated a large sum to Austrian artists, of whom Rainer Maria Rilke was his only personal choice (the rest was distributed among Adolf Loos, Georg Trakl, Oskar Kokoschka et al) and was one of the first who volunteered for the front. The next years brought to him Tolstoy s Christian thought, the loss of David Pinsent, the person most important to him, and, lastly, being held prisoner of war in Italy. Wittgenstein emerged from the war completely transformed as a person and as a thinker. Back in Vienna in 1919, Wittgenstein renounced his enormous fortune, determined to give up philosophy for good and to lead an ascetic, decent life. Heartbroken from the loss of Pinsent, he dedicated the Tractatus to his memory. While trying to find a publisher for the Tractatus, he withdrew to rural Lower Austria to work as a primary school teacher. The work was finally published, with Bertrand Russell s help, in England in 1922, and was an immediate sensation, leading to the formation of many schools of thought, chief among them the Vienna Circle in The multi-stage genesis of the work is retraced 100 years after its origin, as well as its impact on the cultural history of the 20th and 21st century on John Cage s music or on the literary works of Thomas Bernhard and Ingeborg Bachmann. Cassino, Italy, where Wittgenstein was a prisoner of war in Collezione Mauro Lottici

5 MULTIMEDIA Wittgenstein Source: an exclusive presentation in facsimile of Wittgenstein s Nachlass. An Open Access project of the Wittgenstein Archives, University of Bergen. WittFind: a search database in the texts of Wittgenstein s Nachlass. An Open Access project of the Ludwig-Maximilians- Universität München. The exhibition takes place in the well-known house designed by Ludwig Wittgenstein and built in 1928 for his sister Margaret Stonborough.In 1975 the house was acquired and has since then been maintained by the Republic of Bulgaria; from 1977 on, the Bulgarian Cultural Institute Haus Wittgenstein has been located here. How can I be a logician before I am a human being? Far the most important thing is to come to terms with myself! Wittgenstein to Bertrand Russell, December 1913 CURATOR: Radmila Schweitzer ARTISTIC CONCEPT: Michael Huey GRAPHICS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Bea Laufersweiler ACADEMIC BOARD: Kirsten Bang, University of Bergen Rune Falch, University of Bergen Rumiana Koneva, Bulgarian Cultural Institute Christoph Limbeck-Lilienau, University of Vienna Ray Monk, University of Southampton Alois Pichler, University of Bergen Martin Pilch, Austrian Ministry of Science and Economics Alfred Schmidt, Austrian National Library Jonathan Smith, Trinity College Cambridge Ulrike Tanzer, Research Institute Brenner-Archiv SPECIAL CONSULTANCY: Valentina Kraleva-Vassileva CONTACT AND INFORMATION: r.schweitzer@wittgenstein-initiative.com