On October 25, 1946, in a crowded room in Cambridge, England, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper came face to face for the first and only time. The meeting did not go well. Their loud and aggressive confrontation became the stuff of instant legend. But precisely what happened in those ten minutes remains the subject of intense disagreement. Almost immediately rumors spread around the world that the two great philosophers had come to blows, armed with red hot pokers.
What really went on in that room? And what does the violence of this brief exchange tell us about these two men, modern philosophy, post war culture, and the difference between global problems and logic puzzles?As the authors unravel these events, your students will be introduced to the major branches of 20th century philosophy, the tumult of fin-de-si cle Vienna--the birthplace of Popper and Wittgenstein, the events that led to the Nazi takeover of Austria, and Cambridge University, with its eccentric set of philosophy dons, including Bertrand Russell, who acted as umpire at the infamous meeting.At the center of the story stand the two philosophers themselves-proud, irascible, larger-than-life-and ready for a heated debate. Less
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