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Reference: A more detaile account of Wittgenstein's time as a school teacher (not a professor) http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/03/05/wittgenstein-s...

NB: As the author of this article mentions, Wittgenstein scholars tend to gloss over this period of his life, but I agree that it was probably more influential on his later philosophy than his acolytes would have you believe.

Wittgenstein's first work, Tractatus, promotes the kind of naturalist reductionism so popular today, whereas his last work, Philosophical Investigations, is a big swing to the other side, emphasizing the irreducible dimension of language. A crude summary, but IMHO, he's a bridge between Analytic and Continental philosophy.
Great Article - Amazes me that Cambridge had so many geniuses at that time: Wittgenstein, Turing, Keynes - kind of like Athens with Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and London buses, but with a 2.5 thousand year wait.

His Tractates Logico-Philosophicus, made a massive impression on me, many years ago, the only non fiction writing a can think of that brougt me to tears.

Godard riffing on LW: https://youtu.be/_YQlQRtEuts
> He left his teaching post under something of a cloud – he had hit one of his pupils so hard that she lost consciousness

Translation: dudebro's a child abuser.

I wonder why this is downvoted.

L Wittgenstein's behaviour as a teacher was in parts terrible, and hitting a pupil so hard she collapses is hardly good pedagogy. Parents in the village wrote a letter to the school authorities to have Wittgenstein removed. Given that this happened at a time when corporeal punishment was widely accepted, he must have been extreme.

* * *

W has acquired acolytes that refuse to have anything negative published about the master. That also the reason why you rarely read about W's sex life, which is ... interesting.

> I wonder why this is downvoted.

Wittgenstein's behaviour is certainly inexcuseable. However, I downvoted the comment because "dudebro's a child abuser" adds nothing to the discussion and the use of "dudebro" suggests the commenter is not interested in engaging in constructive dialog.

Good point, I agree, it's not a constructive contribution. I should have paid more attention to the tone of the post.
When I was in school in the 70's, I was hit and canned by teachers, was socially acceptable then, of course knocking unconscious is going a bit too far. I don't think he molested his pupils, more a reflection of his intensity about learning and frustration with students who didn't share this, many of his pupils loved him and performed exceptionally well under his tutelage.
I agree that corporeal punishment was generally accepted at the time. This is why I suspect (but don't know and surely can't prove, and might be wildly off the mark) that the primary reason the parents petitioned the authorities to get him removed was to do with his sexual preferences for boys. P
I have seen it written before that Wittgenstein had romantic associations with both men and women, but I have never read that he was a pedophile.
Pedophile is the wrong expression! Maybe ephebophile is more appropriate?
Substantively true, by current standards, and even at the time, with a further more serious incident later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidbauer_incident?wprov=sfla1