"In this landmark study of Western thought, Anthony Gottlieb looks afresh at the writings of our great thinkers of classic philosophy and questions many pieces of conventional wisdom. From the pre-Socratic philosophers like Empedocles, through the celebrated days of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and up to the Renaissance visionaries like Erasmus and Bacon, Gottlieb traces the progress of our philosophy as a phenomenon unconfined by any one discipline. Through example and anecdote, he builds a vivid portrait of the human drive for understanding, providing a fresh appreciation of the philosophical quest, its entertaining and bizarre byways, and its influence on every aspect of life."--

"According to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), philosophy is a 'battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.' This audacious idea changed the way many of its practitioners saw their subject. In the first biography of Wittgenstein in more than three decades, Anthony Gottlieb evaluates this revolutionary idea, explaining the evolution of Wittgenstein's thought and his place in the history of philosophy. Wittgenstein was born into an immensely rich Viennese family but yearned to live a simple life, and he gave away his inheritance. After studying with Bertrand Russell in Cambridge, he wrote his famous Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus while serving in World War I. He then took several positions as a primary-school teacher in rural Austria before returning as a fellow to Cambridge, where a cult-like following developed around him. Wittgenstein worked not only as a philosopher and schoolteacher, but also as an aeronautical engineer in Manchester and as an architect in Vienna. Gottlieb's meticulously researched book traces the itinerant and troubled life of Wittgenstein, the development of his influential ideas, and the Viennese intellectual milieu and family background that shaped him."--from the inside front flap.