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_[The dictionary] was published by a Viennese press in the fall of 1926. This was a few months after a harrowing corporal punishment incident in which Wittgenstein struck a student, causing the student to collapse. He abruptly abandoned his teaching career and moved back to Vienna._
More on this pivotal episode which seems to have sent Wittgenstein into (or been the culmination of a process leading to) a breakdown:
https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidbauer_incident
That Wikipedia page is utterly fascinating from start to finish.
The entire history of the Wittgenstein family is a long tragic winding story. Definitely can recommend the wiki of Wittgenstein:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Wittgenstein
From the Wikipedia article you linked:
> He spent hours with favoured pupils, offering them extra tuition outside the classroom, sometimes until eight in the evening, which did not endear him to their parents.[10] He would take them on overnight trips to Vienna to see museums and cathedrals
>One boy, Karl Gruber, from an impoverished family with six children, became a favourite. The two studied Latin, Greek and mathematics together from four to seven in the evening, then dined in Wittgenstein's room.
This seems like classic grooming behavior.
It is also classic "teacher trying to support a gifted student from a disadvantaged background" behavior. (Though overall he was an awful teacher who fundamentally didn't seem to realize you should not expect unversity-level commitment to the work from primary school students.)
Wittgenstein had a lot of of sexual hangups but I have never seen any evidence he was a pedophile.
It is not? I an not saying he was grooming him necessary, but overnight trips are not normal behavior of teacher trying to help poor gifted student.
It isn't today but if you read German-speaking lit from the period, you'll notice teachers held a very different position in society. This is, of course, true of other places as well.
>This seems like classic grooming behavior.
I really want you to be wrong about this.
He was gay, so I would not be surprised by a pederastia incident.
We've banned this account for repeatedly breaking the site guidelines.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
An interesting man, but with so many internal conflicts. His contribution to architecture and interior design is also notable: He was obsessed with details, making the perfect door handle.
Cross referencing another post elsewhere, Keynes took Wittgenstein on his honeymoon (Keynes btw, was a sex fiend and kept explicit erotic diaries) .. a decision which I think calls his sanity into question!
Fascinating. I knew Wittgenstein taught primary in the 20s, but never connected that with all the later Philosophical Investigations about language as a game, forms of life, intersubjectivity. Looks like that connection has been the object of recent scholarly attention:
https://www.academia.edu/7913113/The_Philosophical_Investiga...
I heard that Wittgenstein was a beery swine Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel
Those poor kids!