Born: 26 April 1889 · Died: 29 April 1951 · Age at death: 62
How old was Ludwig Wittgenstein when he died?
Ludwig Wittgenstein died aged 62. He was born on 26 April 1889 and died on 29 April 1951.
Austrian-British philosopher whose Tractatus and Philosophical Investigations transformed the philosophy of language, logic and mind
Did you know?He attended the same school as Adolf Hitler in Linz, and the two boys were the same age.
Quick facts
Date of birth26 April 1889
Date of death29 April 1951
Age at death62
Cause of deathProstate cancer
NationalityAustrian-British
BirthplaceNeuwaldegg, Austria
Occupationphilosopher of language, architectural theoretician, logician
Editor's Take:
Wittgenstein is unusual among philosophers in having two great, very different philosophies. His early work, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, argued that language works by picturing facts about the world, and ended with the famous line about remaining silent on what cannot be spoken. Years later he rejected much of this, arguing instead that the meaning of words lies in how we use them in everyday life. Born into one of Vienna's richest families, he gave away his inheritance and worked at times as a schoolteacher and a gardener. Few thinkers of the last hundred years have shaped philosophy so deeply.
Key Milestones
1911: Goes to Cambridge to study with Bertrand Russell
1921: Publishes the Tractatus
1939: Becomes professor at Cambridge
1953: Philosophical Investigations is published
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( VIT-gən-s(h)tyne; Austrian German:; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austro-British philosopher who worked in logic, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language. Wittgenstein was born in Vienna into one of Europe's richest families.
