Hooray! You have added the first book to your bookshelf. Check it out now!
[−]
  • Search Digit-count Valid ISBN Invalid ISBN Valid Barcode Invalid Barcode

Wittgenstein's Poker

The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers

By John Eidinow, David Edmonds

(18)

| Paperback | 9780060936648

Like Wittgenstein's Poker?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Sign up for free

Book Description

On October 25, 1946, in a crowded room in Cambridge, England, the great twentieth-century philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper came face to face for the first and only time. The meeting -- which lasted ten minutes -- did not go well. Their loud and aggressive confrontation became the Continue

On October 25, 1946, in a crowded room in Cambridge, England, the great twentieth-century philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper came face to face for the first and only time. The meeting -- which lasted ten minutes -- did not go well. Their loud and aggressive confrontation became the stuff of instant legend, but precisely what happened during that brief confrontation remained for decades the subject of intense disagreement.

An engaging mix of philosophy, history, biography, and literary detection, Wittgenstein's Poker explores, through the Popper/Wittgenstein confrontation, the history of philosophy in the twentieth century. It evokes the tumult of fin-de-siécle Vienna, Wittgentein's and Popper's birthplace; the tragedy of the Nazi takeover of Austria; and postwar Cambridge University, with its eccentric set of philosophy dons, including Bertrand Russell. At the center of the story stand the two giants of philosophy themselves -- proud, irascible, larger than life -- and spoiling for a fight.

Critics

  • Foul play suspected

    Picture the scene. The place is Athens and the time is around the first half of the 4th century BC. Plato is about to give a lecture about something or other. Waiting, gleeful with mischief in the audience, a plucked but otherwise intact chicken conc ... (read full critics)

    spectator published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

  • Wittgenstein's Poker

    On Oct. 25, 1946, a meeting of the Cambridge Moral Science Club turned ugly. Long the domain of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the M.S.C. had invited the up-and-coming Karl Popper, a man dedicated to demolishing Wittgenstein's thought, to present a paper entit ... (read full critics)

    flakmag published on Tue, 31 Aug 2010

4 Reviews

Login or Sign Up to write a review
  • 2 people find this helpful

    An earthly view of two philosophy icons

    I picked up this book for two reasons: first, I enjoyed "Bobby Fisher Goes to War", a later work by the same authors, and second, I wanted to read Popper's works and would like to get some background materials first.

    The story itself may not be as dramatic as "Bobby" but the characters are as ... (continue)

    I picked up this book for two reasons: first, I enjoyed "Bobby Fisher Goes to War", a later work by the same authors, and second, I wanted to read Popper's works and would like to get some background materials first.

    The story itself may not be as dramatic as "Bobby" but the characters are as eccentric, if not more. Wittgenstein and Popper came from the same city around the same period, and have in fact lived quite close to each other. Yet for everything else, especially their philosophies, they were vastly different. The climax came when they finally met each other in a philosophy club meeting in which Wittgenstein allegedly threatened Popper with a poker (hence the title of the book) and stormed out of the room shortly after.

    This is NOT a book about their philosophies. You wouldn't learn much about them except for the very basics. But if you'd like to take a peek of the persons behind the philosophies, this has to one of the best around.

    Is this helpful?

    Greg Sung said on Jul 31, 2006 | Add your feedback

  • A novel about Wittgenstein and Popper

    First and foremost, this is not a philosophy book, and if it is, not a good one (If it is, what's the main philosophical theme?)

    It takes too much to go into Wittgenstein's philosophy in depth, for it's obscure and maybe fragmented at times. He mentions something really interesting in a para ... (continue)

    First and foremost, this is not a philosophy book, and if it is, not a good one (If it is, what's the main philosophical theme?)

    It takes too much to go into Wittgenstein's philosophy in depth, for it's obscure and maybe fragmented at times. He mentions something really interesting in a paragraph and then he often moves on to mention something else in the very next paragraph as if the first thing he mentioned has already been taken care of. He rarely draws a conclusion in a clear form. Some people masochistically spend their life on this subject. With that's said, it's easier to talk about his life. So this is one of those books on great philosophers, like one on Kripke's personality or one on Tarski's personal life. O just like there are so many books on Einstein!! So you might as well like it if you are a gossiper and like that kind of book in general. I didn't like it at all.

    If you are genuinely interested in Wittgenstein as a person "Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius by Ray Monk" serves the job far more justly.

    Is this helpful?

    JihadeR said on Oct 29, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • an easy reading book. in some way it does give u the tension when the two men were in the same room, the main scene obviously. read: if u wanna know more about W and P. don't read: if u wanna learn their works (this is not a philosophy book).

    Is this helpful?

    Littlepete said on Jan 5, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • You may not know the theory but it doesn't matter

    I can probably never step across the thresold of philosophy, which is always tempting but demands way too much contemplation. Wittgenstein's Poker, as the sub-title suggests, is a tale revolving the blow between two of the most important contemporary thinkers. Frankly I only know Wittgenstein's name ... (continue)

    I can probably never step across the thresold of philosophy, which is always tempting but demands way too much contemplation. Wittgenstein's Poker, as the sub-title suggests, is a tale revolving the blow between two of the most important contemporary thinkers. Frankly I only know Wittgenstein's name and Popper? I even never heard of him. Yet it doesn't matter. The book serves as a vivid reference to what happened in the Central Europe back in the WWII, and most of all, it pens two charismatic, subjective and passionate philosophers into life. Having read the book, I am so grateful that we have these great figures who helped season the tedious mankind history.

    Is this helpful?

    fruit said on Sep 13, 2007 | Add your feedback

Book Details

  • Rating:
    (18)
    • 5 stars
    • 4 stars
    • 3 stars
    • 2 stars
    • 1 star
  • English Books
  • Paperback 352 Pages
  • Edition: Reprint
  • ISBN-10: 0060936649
  • ISBN-13: 9780060936648
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial
  • Pub date: Sep 01, 2002
  • Dimensions: 1226 mm x 839 mm x 129 mm Just how big is that?
  • Also available as: Hardcover
  • In other languages: other languages 繁體書, 简体书
Improve data of this book

Groups with this in collection

Prices Change currency & sellers

ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780060936648 Paperback $13.95 $11.92 bn.com
$13.99 $13.99 The Book Depository
Other editions
+ 2 copies tradable: →
Added to Shelf Added to Wish List

Inline Translation Mode

Left click to navigate, right click to translate.

inline translation guide

or close

Inline translation is not ready for this page yet.

Inline translation mode.

Share this page with your friends.

The viewport has not loaded.