I Think of You Constantly with Love: The Letters of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Ben Richards, 1946-1951

(Hardback)

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Ludwig Wittgenstein met Ben Richards, a medical student, in autumn 1945. It was the beginning of a deep and tempestuous relationship which lasted until Wittgensteins death. Their correspondence starts in the summer of 1946 and consists of more than 370 letters, notes, telegrams and photographs. The final letter was sent a week before Wittgenstein died in April 1951.

Often defined by his arrogance, difficulty and critical nature of others, Wittgenstein writes letters to Richards which give us another window into his character. Their letters manifest an emotional closeness which is remarkable and unparalleled in Wittgensteins voluminous correspondence. They leave no doubt that Ben Richards was Wittgenstein's closest friend in these last years of his life indeed, perhaps the greatest love of his life.

Now available in English for the first time, the letters between Wittgenstein and Richards provide a wholly new perspective on the last years of Wittgensteins life: his last years teaching in Cambridge, the resignation of his chair in Cambridge at the end of 1947, and the ensuing restless years spent trying to find a quiet place to do philosophy and complete his magnum opus, the Philosophical Investigations.

Their letters are further proof of the extent to which Wittgensteins life was inseparable from his philosophy. They are an opportunity to come closer to understanding the work of this intellectual giant, telling us more about the values and beliefs of one of the 20th centurys greatest thinkers.

Author Bio

Alfred Schmidt is Assistant Director-General of the Austrian National Library.

Gabriel Citron is Assistant Professor of Religion at Princeton University, USA.

Ray Monk is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and biographer of Wittgenstein. He is the author of Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius (1991) and Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2012).