The Philosopher Artist: Ludwig Wittgenstein Seen through Edoardo Paolozzi

In this chapter, I argue that the strong fascination Wittgenstein had for artists cannot be explained primarily by the content of his work, and in particular not by his sporadic observation on aesthetics, but rather by stylistic features of his work’s and formal aspects of his writing. Eduardo Paolozzi’s testimony shows that artists often had a feeling of acquaintance or familiarity with the philosopher, which—it is suggested—is due to stylistic features of his work, such as the colloquial tone in which Wittgenstein shares his observations with the reader, but also the lack of long-winded arguments or explanations. In the concluding part, I suggest that we can read Wittgenstein’s writings as artworks of a specific kind: as philosophical works of art.