The archeology of the tractatus

Bolzano and Wittgenstein

Jan Šebestík

pp. 112-118

in: Rudolf Haller, Johannes L. Brandl (eds), Wittgenstein — eine neubewertung/Wittgenstein — towards a re-evaluation, Berlin, Springer, 1990

Abstract

The Tractatus is intimately related to the logic of Frege and Russell. However, as recent studies have shown, it is also a product of Austrian philosophical and cultural tradition. Contrary to German transcendentalism and subjectivism which begin with Kant, Austrian philosophy is rooted in Aristotle, in scholasticism and in Leibniz. Of the two great Austrians of the 19th century, Bolzano and Brentano, the former is the heir of Leibniz and Aristotle while the latter draws his inspiration from Aristotle and the scholastics.

Cited authors

Brentano Franz

Kant Immanuel

Frege Gottlob

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm

Aristoteles

Bolzano Bernard

Wittgenstein Ludwig