Perhaps the most important work of philosophy written in the twentieth
century, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was the only philosophical
work that Ludwig Wittgenstein published during his lifetime. Written in
short, carefully numbered paragraphs of extreme brilliance, it captured
the imagination of a generation of philosophers. For Wittgenstein, logic
was something we use to conquer a reality which is in itself both
elusive and unobtainable. He famously summarized the book in the
following words: 'What can be said at all can be said clearly; and what
we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence.' David Pears and
Brian McGuinness received the highest praise for their meticulous
translation. The work is prefaced by Bertrand Russell's original
introduction to the first English edition.