Hacker News Reader

Comment by dvanduzer | Hacker News Reader

Wittgenstein's Tractatus is one of the most accessible pieces of philosophy ever written. I recommend it.

For an even more accessible view into Russell and Wittgenstein, and well, life the universe and everything: logicomix.com

View on HN

This must be satire. It's one of the most cryptic, least comprehensible pieces of philosophy ever written. The most brilliant philosophers of his time didn't properly understand it, according to Wittgenstein himself.

I found Spinoza and Wittgenstein comprehensible. I've found many other philosophers not so. My comment is not satire.

Not satire. I have a copy on my desk at work and used it within the last month to explain truth tables (section 4.31) to a developer.

Try looking at it again through the lens of designing a domain specific language. It forms a robust framework for rigid and controlled communications or interactions.

The reason it was supplanted by Philosophical Investigations is that it was overly strict in defining the logical foundations of language and meaning.

It uses common words and often short sentences, which each seems to express something utterly trivial or profoundly deep. It is certainly not accessible, in particular if you have no other background in philosophy.

I'd call myself an ignorant as far as philosophy goes, but I found „Philosophical investigations” much more readable and influential on me than the „Tractatus”.

Nothing by wittgenstein qualifies as "one of the most accessible pieces of philosophy ever written". If you believe this, you probably didn't understand what you were reading. If you want accessible, then I'd start with the pre-socratics.

Marcus Aurelius is very accessible, and feels very modern.

Well what a mess this comment page is! The Tractatus is certainly not accessible, but the later Wittgenstein easily qualifies as the most accessible philosophy ever written.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com