SOURCE: "Wittgenstein's 'Wonderful Life,'" in Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. XLIX, No. 3, 1988, pp. 495-510.

In the following essay, John discusses the importance of "wonder" in the life and writings of Wittgenstein.

In The Illusion of Technique William Barrett asserts that the experience referred to in the well-known passage at 6.44 in the Tractatus, "Not how the world is, but that it is is the Mystical," was of life-long significance for Wittgenstein. Its importance for him at the time it was composed is clearly seen in his letter to the publisher Ludwig von Ficker. Barrett claims, however, that the experience to which the words at 6.44 refer is potently present and influential throughout his life. "It circulates from beginning to end through his later Philosophical Investigations, present but not announced—not even by way of a thunderous declaration of silence, as in the earlier work." While Barrett correctly...