The Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society was first established in 1974 to promote philosophical conferences, workshops, summer schools, and research that are inspired by the work of

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...

and the

Vienna Circle The Vienna Circle (german: Wiener Kreis) of Logical Empiricism was a group of elite philosophers and scientists drawn from the natural and social sciences, logic and mathematics who met regularly from 1924 to 1936 at the University of Vienna, cha ...

. It is an international society, which also has a publication series.

History

The society was founded in 1974 by Elisabeth Leinfellner,

Werner Leinfellner Werner Leinfellner (January 27, 1921 – April 6, 2010) was professor of philosophy at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and at the Vienna University of Technology. After recovering from life-threatening wounds during World War II, he studied ch ...

, Rudolf Haller, Paul Weingartner, and Adolf Hübner. The impetus of the first

International Wittgenstein Symposium The International Wittgenstein Symposium is an international conference dedicated to the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein and its relationship to philosophy and science. It is sponsored by the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society. History In 1976, t ...

Kirchberg am Wechsel Kirchberg am Wechsel is a town in the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is notable for hosting the International Wittgenstein Symposium The International Wittgenstein Symposium is an international conference ded ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

, led to its development as an international society. The location of the society is in Kirchberg am Wechsel; the location was selected because Ludwig Wittgenstein taught at elementary schools close to Kirchberg am Wechsel in the 1920s.

Goals

The society has two primary goals. The first is to promote the analysis, tradition, and dissemination of Wittgenstein's philosophy. The second is to promote, more generally, philosophy that has its roots in Austria and other countries with emphasis on

analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a branch and tradition of philosophy using analysis, popular in the Western world and particularly the Anglosphere, which began around the turn of the 20th century in the contemporary era in the United Kingdom, United Sta ...

inspired by Wittgenstein, and

philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...

inspired by, but not limited to, the philosophy of the Vienna Circle.

Membership

The society currently reports 210 members both national and international. Membership is decided by the Executive Committee of the society based on academic criteria.

Publications

The society has published its proceedings since the first International Wittgenstein Symposium. In 2006, they started a new series, published by Ontos Verlag. The new series contains the official proceedings of the International Wittgenstein Symposium, special workshops, and high-quality publications submitted to and reviewed by the society.

International Ludwig Wittgenstein Institute (ILWI)

The ILWI was recently founded by the society, and supports scientific and cultural projects that are related to Wittgenstein's philosophy and the goals of the society. The ILWI presents workshops, summer schools, Wittgenstein lectures, and research opportunities at the ILWI.

Sponsorship

The society is funded by the government of

, the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research, Raiffeisenbank NÖ-Süd Alpin, Kirchberg am Wechsel, membership fees, and donations. The ''

Wiener Zeitung ''Wiener Zeitung'' is an Austrian newspaper. It is one of the oldest, still published newspapers in the world. It is the official publication used by the Government of the Republic of Austria for legally-required announcements, such as company r ...

'' newspaper is the current media collaborator for the society.

References

External links

Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein SocietyBritish Wittgenstein SocietyNordic Wittgenstein Society
{{Authority control Ludwig Wittgenstein Philosophical societies Analytic philosophy