When we left Wittgenstein yesterday, he had gone to Germany at
the end of his the 1911 summer break to meet Gottlob Frege, who urged him to
get to know Bertrand Russell in Cambridge.
So he went back to England and started attending Russell’s
classes. At the end of the semester, he famously asked Russell if he should
switch to philosophy or go back to aeronautics. Russell remembers the exchange
as follows:
At the end of his first term at
Cambridge he came to me and said: “Will you please tell me whether I am a
complete idiot or not?” I replied: “My dear fellow, I don't know. Why are you
asking me?” He said: “Because, if I am a complete idiot, I shall become an
aeronaut; but if not, I shall become a philosopher."
In response, Russell asked him to write an essay on
philosophy over winter break. When Wittgenstein returned in January with his
essay, Russell read only the first page before telling Wittgenstein that he must
stick with philosophy. Wittgenstein immediately transferred to Cambridge, and
the rest is philosophical history.
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