Wittgenstein's Vienna [Paperback]

Allan Janik (Author), Stephen Edelston Toulmin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996

This is a remarkable book about a man (perhaps the most important and original philosopher of our age), a society (the corrupt Austro-Hungarian Empire on the eve of dissolution), and a city (Vienna, with its fin-de siècle gaiety and corrosive melancholy). The central figure in this study of a crumbling society that gave birth to the modern world is Wittgenstein, the brilliant and gifted young thinker. With others, including Freud, Viktor Adler, and Arnold Schoenberg, he forged his ideas in a classical revolt against the stuffy, doomed, and moralistic lives of the old regime. As a portrait of Wittgenstein, the book is superbly realized; it is even better as a portrait of the age, with dazzling and unusual parallels to our own confused society. “Allan Janik and Stephen Toulmin have acted on a striking premise: an understanding of prewar Vienna, Wittgenstein’s native city, will make it easier to comprehend both his work and our own problems….This is an independent work containing much that is challenging, new, and useful.”—New York Times Book Review.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A brilliantly conceived project admirably brought off. (Peter Caws )

A striking premise...challenging, new, and useful. (New York Times Book Review )

About the Author

Allan Kanik is now at the Research Institute of the Brenner Archives at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. Stephen Toulmin teaches philosophy at the University of Southern California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 315 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566631327
• ISBN-13: 978-1566631327
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #344,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > History > Europe > Hungary
  • #70 in Books > History > Europe > Austria

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Philosophische Untersuchungen, November 15, 2001

By 

Esquire (PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wittgenstein's Vienna (Paperback)

From the turn of the century until the Nazi Anschluss Vienna was a city of amazing artistic and intellectual creativity. The psychological theories of Freud and Adler, the final development of "Jugendstil" or "art nouveau" in art and architecture, authors such as Schnitzler, Friedell, Kraus and Altenberg, the philosophic and scientific thinking of the Vienna Circle, the "Kaffeehaus" culture...this was all a part of Wittgenstein's Vienna. Vienna at this time was truly a phenomenon, exceeding any other city (including Berlin and Paris) in its intellectual and cultural ferveur. This book discusses this phenomenon with a view towards its effects on Wittgenstein and his philosophy. It is well-researched and scholarly in style, i.e. no tourist book. For a more biographical approach, "The Duty of Genius" by Ray Monk is also excellent.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magisterial cultural history, November 15, 2000

By 

Peter Czipott (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wittgenstein's Vienna (Paperback)

This book is indeed a model for the writing of intellectual and cultural history. The manner in which it unites its disparate threads -- plastic arts, music, literature, philosophy, politics -- is breathtaking. Such other classics as Carl Schorske's _Fin-de-Siecle Vienna_ pale by comparison, precisely because the unification of different themes is not carried out with such panache or such success. Janik and Toulmin top off their cultural history with a convincing demonstration that Wittgenstein's thought is most important precisely where it departs from the analytic tradition it helped spawn: that is, where it points _beyond_ the limits of language and analysis.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unforgettable book about an unforgettable time and place, August 28, 2005

By 

Daniel R. Greenfield "Dan" (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wittgenstein's Vienna (Paperback)

As someone with a strong interest in modern philosophy as well as modern classical music, art and literature, I received more honest pleasure and enlightenment from reading this book than from any other book in recent memory. It is not per se a book about Wittgenstein, but rather an in-depth analysis of the milieu and mind-set of Vienna and its cultural elite circa 1900. Before immersing yourself into this delightful book, it might be a good idea to review the history of Austria-Hungary, how it came to be, the key events surrounding it, the emporer Franz Josef, and the territories which made up the dual monarchy. It also helps if you have some acquaintance with the German language, since German terms are used liberally throughout, often without denoting what those terms mean in English. Not being familiar with German, I found this mildly annoying, but certainly not enough to dampen my enthusiasm for this book.

Some of the most interesting sections of the book concern Viennese social philosophers and the artists whose works were a commentary on the corruption of the "gilded age": Otto Weininger, Kokoschka, Klimt, Schoenberg, Fritz Mauthner, and of course the unforgettable Karl Krauss. There is also a lengthy section on the scientific work of Mach and Hertz, the development of Hertz's "model" theory and its influence on Wittgenstein's Tractatus, as well as a beautifully written synopsis of Schopenhaur's philosophy.

And this is only the barest overview of a stupendously rich and rewarding book, one which all thoughtful people should and must read. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.