Philosophical Investigations
Ludwig Wittgenstein
12 people recommended it in 6 threads, 2010–2024.
What people on Hacker News said
Philosophical Investigations, the second book of Wittgenstein, it's dense, and obscure to some extent, but it's really eye-opener, some ideas that influenced the last century are introduced there.
And everyone pick up a copy of Philosophical Investigations by Wittgenstein so y’all can learn about how to avoid snake-eating-tail discourse.
PI is so good even if you don’t “understand” it all. In it he pretty much demolishes any notion that language is composed of words that refer to objects.
It gradually changed how I view the entire world around me, and dissolved my interest in philosophy, as well as in many other "sciency" things that - I realized - I was only interested in because of implicit metaphysical interpretations that ultimately stemmed out of conceptual confusion.
The basic idea of the book that you cannot think straight until you understand the hard limits of thought, and respect it can never be more than a supplement to performing useful actions in the world, is a lesson I've never unlearned.
This book changed the way I viewed everything, and also led me to read "The Philisophical Investigations", which I would also put up there.
Philosophical Investigations - Wittgenstein. Just stunningly thoughtful and changed the way I interpret most things around me.
Where it comes up
- Ask HN: Best Philosophical Books? 2010 · 4 recommendations
- Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything? 2019 · 3 recommendations
- Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024? 2023 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read? 2024 · 1 recommendation
- The “Build Your Own Redis” Book Is Completed 2023 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models? 2017 · 1 recommendation