Notes from Cambridge

Ludwig Wittgenstein (T Fel 1929) submitted his book Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921) for examination as a PhD thesis in 1929 in order to gain entry to a Fellowship at Trinity. Wittgenstein was examined by Bertrand Russell and G.E. Moore and at the end of his viva he is alleged to have said ”Don’t worry, I know you’ll never understand it.” Moore subsequently wrote, “I myself consider that this is a work of genius; but, even if I am completely mistaken and it is nothing of the sort, it is well above the standard required for the PhD degree.
The Tractatus was Wittgenstein’s only full-length work published during his lifetime. The Philosophical Investigations was published posthumously in 1953 and was edited and translated by Elizabeth Anscombe (N 1942).