Abstract

Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is a difficult and enigmatic little philosophical classic, which has fascinated philosophers since its publication in 1921. Interpretations of it are still controversial, and the theory of what can only be shown, and not said, in particular, continues to be a matter of serious philosophical debate. The importance of his Central European background and engineering training has long been recognized. Although there is a substantial tradition of scholarly work concerning the influence of Heinrich Hertz and Wittgenstein's interest in physics and the philosophy of science on the philosophical content of the Tractatus, there has been little serious historical research concerning his scientific training as an engineer. ;Wittgenstein was educated in a technical track, eventually earning an engineering certificate from the finest Technical Institute on the continent, the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenberg-Berlin. There has been a recognized need for fine-grained historical research on his education at the Oberrealschule in Linz, Austria, and his engineering work in Berlin, to fill an important gap in the scholarship concerning his early intellectual formation. One reason that this had not been addressed is that his records at Charlottenberg were lost during the bombing raids of World War II, and it seemed unlikely that important material concerning his engineering training remained. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate Wittgenstein's engineering training, in order to fill the gap in the existing scholarship, and, more importantly, to determine what significance it had for the philosophical content of the Tractatus. ;In the course of archival research in Berlin, the required schedule or courses for mechanical engineers during Wittgenstein's attendance was discovered, making it possible to identify his professors and characterize the content of his coursework. His technical training focused heavily on mathematical drawing, which led me to investigate the role of visual thinking, as it was involved in engineering training, on the philosophical content of the Tractatus. I argue that both the Bild theory of language, and the theory of what can only be shown, and not said, were significantly shaped by the mindset developed during his Central European engineering training