Abstract

If anniversaries may be considered as a potential call for historical reflection, or at least for reflection with historical sensitivity and awareness, then the centenary of the publication of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus makes the examination of Wittgenstein’s early work in its broader historical context quite apposite. The present chapter aims to contribute to the relevant discussions by focusing on the relation of both the early Wittgenstein and the Tractatus to their times, aspiring in the end to provide a different understanding of the early phase of Wittgenstein’s thought. More specifically, the chapter highlights, first, some of the connections that can be drawn between Wittgenstein’s early philosophical outlook and various—sometimes converging, other times diverging, or even contradicting—aspects of modernism and modernity. Then, it discusses in some more detail the peculiar character of the Tractatus as a modernist, immanent critique of modernity, that is, as an attempted critique of (certain qualities of) modernity from within. Finally, the chapter concludes with a few thoughts on the legacy, present status, and possible future pathways of the Tractatus.