A review by juuuuules
Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius by Ray Monk

5.0

The great joy I found in reading this book stemmed from learning about the moral and epistemological problems Wittgenstein was working on throughout his life, while simultaneously witnessing Wittgenstein's personal struggle with the very same problems. The questions that Wittgenstein asks are manifest both in his writing and life-decisions. He is someone who seriously and intently asked himself what it means to live a good life, and who endlessly thrashed about in trying embody the moral ideas found in his work. This book made me feel heard and swaddled in a particular way; it made me feel as though my life is not the subject of some larger philosophy beyond my control, but that the act of living is philosophy — one must endlessly question and strive for one's own truth. And within this endless striving is a truth and moral righteousness in itself.