"Philosophy," Ludwig Wittgenstein once wrote, "should actually be
written only as poetry." That Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus--Wittgenstein's masterwork, and the only book he
published during his lifetime--endures as the definitive modern text on
the limits of logic, inspiring artists and philosophers alike, comes as
no surprise. Consisting of 525 hierarchically numbered declarative
statements, each one "self-evident," Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is
imbued, as translator Damion Searls writes, with the kind of "cryptic
grandeur" and "awe-inspiring opacity" we might expect--might
want--from such an iconic philosopher. Yet previous translations, in
their eagerness to replicate German phrasing and syntax, have a stilted,
even redolently Victorian air. With this new translation and an
important introduction on the language of the book, prefaced by eminent
scholar Marjorie Perloff, Searls finally does justice to Wittgenstein's
enigmatic masterpiece, capturing the fluid and forceful language of the
original without sacrificing its philosophical rigor--indeed, making
Wittgenstein's philosophy clearer than ever before in English.
