|
Wittgenstein
|
| 00:00:23 |
If people did not sometimes... |
| 00:00:29 |
...do silly things, |
| 00:00:33 |
nothing... |
| 00:00:36 |
...intelligent would ever get done. |
| 00:00:48 |
If people did not sometimes do silly things, |
| 00:00:53 |
Hello. |
| 00:00:55 |
My name is Ludwig Wittgenstein. |
| 00:00:57 |
I'm a prodigy. |
| 00:00:59 |
I'm going to tell you my story. |
| 00:01:01 |
I was born in 1889 |
| 00:01:05 |
I would like to introduce them to you. |
| 00:01:07 |
(Fanfare) |
| 00:01:09 |
She was crazy about music. |
| 00:01:12 |
In fact, she was so busy |
| 00:01:16 |
that we were left with the 26 tutors |
| 00:01:19 |
Hermine, my oldest sister, |
| 00:01:24 |
Gretyl married an American |
| 00:01:28 |
Of Helene, we will remain silent. |
| 00:01:31 |
Three of my brothers died young. |
| 00:01:34 |
Hans ran away to America to escape dad, |
| 00:01:39 |
Kurt's troops rebelled in the First World War |
| 00:01:44 |
Rudolf, who was bent, |
| 00:01:47 |
When he wasn't being theatrical, he hung out |
| 00:01:52 |
He topped himself drinking a glass of cyanide |
| 00:01:56 |
That leaves Paul. He was a concert pianist, |
| 00:02:01 |
Ravel composed the |
| 00:02:04 |
And as for Dad, he was always in the office |
| 00:02:09 |
That's how we escaped inflation |
| 00:02:11 |
mega-rich - like the Rockefellers. |
| 00:02:14 |
(Gentle music) |
| 00:04:03 |
In art, it is hard to say anything |
| 00:04:29 |
Even to have expressed false thought boldly |
| 00:04:54 |
Of time. |
| 00:04:58 |
The horrors of hell |
| 00:05:01 |
That's plenty of time. |
| 00:05:03 |
(Murmurs) |
| 00:05:05 |
(Babble of muttering) |
| 00:05:15 |
I was to spend a lifetime |
| 00:05:19 |
"Quite the best to be had in Vienna," Mum said. |
| 00:05:23 |
I shared a history teacher with Adolf Hitler. |
| 00:05:26 |
What a scream. |
| 00:05:29 |
(Babble of voices intensifies) |
| 00:05:31 |
(Cacophony of voices) |
| 00:06:02 |
(Faint muttering) |
| 00:06:08 |
(Gunshot reverberates) |
| 00:06:10 |
(Mimics gunshots) |
| 00:06:17 |
(Faint ticking) |
| 00:06:20 |
If someone is merely ahead of time, |
| 00:06:31 |
I am in England. |
| 00:06:35 |
MALE VOICE: Tell me how you're searching, |
| 00:06:42 |
Who's that? |
| 00:06:44 |
Hail, earthling. |
| 00:06:46 |
Earthling? |
| 00:06:50 |
Who are you? |
| 00:06:51 |
You could call me Mr Green. |
| 00:06:54 |
May I ask you a question? |
| 00:06:57 |
How many toes do philosophers have? |
| 00:07:00 |
Ten. |
| 00:07:02 |
Fascinating. |
| 00:07:05 |
That's how many humans have. |
| 00:07:07 |
Mr Green, philosophers are humans |
| 00:07:13 |
Oh dear. |
| 00:07:14 |
Does that mean |
| 00:07:20 |
- Oh, God. |
| 00:07:30 |
LUDWIG AS AN ADULT: I escaped the family |
| 00:07:35 |
Manchester, |
| 00:07:41 |
(Laughs) I remember my father saying, |
| 00:07:47 |
Well, my aim was to be |
| 00:07:51 |
But my experiments |
| 00:07:59 |
I abandoned my unsuccessful attempt |
| 00:08:03 |
and, like the English hero, Dick Whittington, |
| 00:08:07 |
went south to Cambridge |
| 00:08:18 |
Why won't you just admit |
| 00:08:25 |
Because, Professor Russell, |
| 00:08:30 |
Look for yourself. |
| 00:08:33 |
I tell you for a fact, |
| 00:08:37 |
The issue is metaphysical, not empirical. |
| 00:08:41 |
I thought the next big step in philosophy |
| 00:08:44 |
Now I am not so sure. |
| 00:08:49 |
(Grunting) |
| 00:08:51 |
Professor Russell. |
| 00:08:54 |
Professor Russell. |
| 00:08:59 |
(Crickets chirping) |
| 00:09:11 |
Shh! |
| 00:09:31 |
"Dear Ottoline, |
| 00:09:34 |
Herr Schwinckel-Winkel, |
| 00:09:39 |
He has the pure intellectual passion in the |
| 00:09:46 |
He says every morning |
| 00:09:50 |
and every evening he ends in despair." |
| 00:09:54 |
"We both have the same feeling |
| 00:10:01 |
He is the young man one hopes for. |
| 00:10:07 |
His disposition is that of the artist, |
| 00:10:12 |
He affects me, just as I affect you. |
| 00:10:20 |
I get to know every turn and twist of the ways |
| 00:10:26 |
- from watching how..." |
| 00:10:31 |
And at the same time I love and admire him. |
| 00:10:35 |
His boiling passion may drive him anywhere. " |
| 00:10:40 |
⪠GILBERT & SULLIVAN: |
| 00:10:42 |
⪠In short, my medievalism's affectation |
| 00:10:48 |
⪠Born of a morbid love of admiration |
| 00:11:03 |
God, the English are a queer bunch. |
| 00:11:05 |
Lady Ottoline Morrell was the queerest. |
| 00:11:08 |
She was fucking the gardener and Russell. |
| 00:11:12 |
All the fun was in the country houses. |
| 00:11:15 |
Everyone else was miserable. |
| 00:11:18 |
Cambridge was miserable. |
| 00:11:20 |
There was no oxygen there. |
| 00:11:22 |
(Breathes hoarsely) |
| 00:11:25 |
Can you imagine spending your evenings |
| 00:11:30 |
I was no fun at parties. |
| 00:11:39 |
The drunken chit-chat of British intellectuals |
| 00:11:43 |
So, in desperation, I fled to Norway and built |
| 00:11:51 |
I started to write Notes On Logic. |
| 00:12:19 |
How can I be a logician |
| 00:12:25 |
The most important thing |
| 00:12:30 |
It's much easier here in Norway. |
| 00:12:33 |
The solitude is bliss. |
| 00:12:36 |
I can do more work here in a day |
| 00:12:41 |
Cambridge was absolutely unbearable! |
| 00:12:45 |
A brothel. |
| 00:12:47 |
Impossible to concentrate. |
| 00:12:51 |
Here at last, |
| 00:12:53 |
I feel... I'm solving things. |
| 00:13:18 |
I've heard Herr Wittgenstein |
| 00:13:21 |
I told him it would be dark. |
| 00:13:24 |
He said he hated daylight. |
| 00:13:27 |
I told him it would be Lonely. |
| 00:13:30 |
He said he prostituted his mind |
| 00:13:35 |
I said he was mad. |
| 00:13:37 |
He said God preserve him from sanity. |
| 00:13:40 |
God certainly will. |
| 00:13:42 |
Its shocking that he's never read Aristotle. |
| 00:13:49 |
(Ticking) |
| 00:13:52 |
LUDWIG: I don't merely have |
| 00:13:55 |
I know this is a pillar box. |
| 00:13:57 |
I know this is a hand. |
| 00:14:00 |
And what is a hand? |
| 00:14:02 |
This, for example. |
| 00:14:05 |
It's a certain certainty. |
| 00:14:08 |
I'm familiar with certainty. |
| 00:14:10 |
I know this film studio is in Waterloo. |
| 00:14:13 |
But how do I know |
| 00:14:20 |
(Gentle piano music) |
| 00:14:48 |
Ludwig, Ludwig! |
| 00:14:50 |
I've just heard from Mother |
| 00:14:53 |
Now, look, I understand wanting to do your bit |
| 00:14:57 |
but why do you want to die in the trenches? |
| 00:15:00 |
Why not get a clerical job in Vienna? |
| 00:15:02 |
Because I want to go to the front. |
| 00:15:04 |
Why put yourself at risk like this, Ludwig? |
| 00:15:06 |
You've been exempted, for Christ's sake. |
| 00:15:09 |
Standing eye to eye with death will give me |
| 00:15:14 |
I'll be doing something. |
| 00:15:16 |
(Stab of piano chords) |
| 00:15:19 |
I'm going as well. |
| 00:15:21 |
We've got to do our duty. |
| 00:15:24 |
(Dramatic piano music) |
| 00:15:35 |
(Gunfire and artillery fire) |
| 00:15:40 |
Where two principles meet |
| 00:15:44 |
then each calls the other a fool or a heretic. |
| 00:15:47 |
(Gunfire and artillery fire) |
| 00:15:58 |
I'm hated because I'm a volunteer! |
| 00:16:03 |
I'm surrounded by people who hate me. |
| 00:16:08 |
The nearness of death |
| 00:16:13 |
God, enlighten me. |
| 00:16:15 |
God, enlighten me! |
| 00:16:20 |
I am a worm. |
| 00:16:22 |
Pray God that I become a man. |
| 00:16:27 |
God be with me. |
| 00:16:30 |
God be with me! |
| 00:16:32 |
Amen! |
| 00:17:01 |
I know this world exists. |
| 00:17:04 |
But its meaning is problematic. |
| 00:17:10 |
Am I good or am I evil? |
| 00:17:14 |
When my conscience upsets my equilibrium, |
| 00:17:26 |
What is it? |
| 00:17:29 |
Is it the world? |
| 00:17:32 |
Or is it God? |
| 00:17:53 |
Wittgenstein has been taken prisoner. |
| 00:17:56 |
Oh, how fascinating! |
| 00:17:58 |
"I am a prisoner of war |
| 00:18:04 |
I hope we shall see each other after the war. |
| 00:18:07 |
Being shot at many times |
| 00:18:13 |
So has Tolstoy's Gospel In Brief. |
| 00:18:20 |
I have written a book called |
| 00:18:25 |
It combines logical symbolism |
| 00:18:33 |
It's better with no shoes, no shoes at all. |
| 00:18:39 |
Love, Ludwig." |
| 00:18:41 |
I must send him some more cocoa tablets. |
| 00:18:43 |
Sounds like he's rather depressed. |
| 00:18:47 |
Does he know you've been in prison, Bertie? |
| 00:18:49 |
I doubt it. |
| 00:18:52 |
Such nice manners always, Ludwig. |
| 00:18:56 |
Good stock. |
| 00:19:00 |
What is logical symbolism? |
| 00:19:04 |
Oh, it's too difficult to explain. |
| 00:19:07 |
That's the trouble with you, Bertie. |
| 00:19:16 |
(Church bells ring) |
| 00:19:18 |
I was released from prison camp |
| 00:19:24 |
I wanted to get my Tractatus published, |
| 00:19:28 |
(Dramatic piano music) |
| 00:19:52 |
Ludwig! |
| 00:19:54 |
Ludwig, what do you mean |
| 00:19:58 |
It would be like a precision instrument |
| 00:20:01 |
Look, you were decorated in the war. |
| 00:20:03 |
Bertrand Russell |
| 00:20:06 |
You can't go and teach in the provinces. |
| 00:20:09 |
Hermine, you remind me of someone |
| 00:20:13 |
who cannot explain the strange movements |
| 00:20:17 |
You can't tell what sort of storm is raging, |
| 00:20:19 |
or that this person might only be managing |
| 00:20:24 |
Well, I still think it's a waste of your talents. |
| 00:20:27 |
If you hadn't been so daft |
| 00:20:30 |
you could publish your book yourself, |
| 00:20:34 |
I don't want to force my philosophy |
| 00:20:38 |
Can't you understand that? |
| 00:20:40 |
Well, I would rather have a happy person |
| 00:20:46 |
I am going to teach. |
| 00:20:53 |
CHILDREN:? Three blind mice |
| 00:20:55 |
"Those truth possibilities of its truth-argument |
| 00:21:00 |
which verify... and prositions... |
| 00:21:09 |
Yes, good. |
| 00:21:10 |
Proposition. So what is this here? |
| 00:21:15 |
What do you call this here? |
| 00:21:18 |
Logic. |
| 00:21:22 |
What's this here? |
| 00:21:26 |
What do you call this here? |
| 00:21:36 |
Teaching you |
| 00:21:42 |
Do you understand what I'm saying? |
| 00:21:46 |
Do you understand what I'm saying? |
| 00:21:54 |
It's a waste of time. |
| 00:21:56 |
It's a waste of my time, |
| 00:22:02 |
Do you understand... |
| 00:22:07 |
Oh, my God! |
| 00:22:11 |
Oh, my dear, dear God! |
| 00:22:19 |
Teaching proved to be a sham. |
| 00:22:23 |
I had to "do a runner"... |
| 00:22:26 |
...and lie about my brutality towards the children. |
| 00:22:30 |
They just weren't any good at logic or maths, |
| 00:22:38 |
I kidded myself that my background and class |
| 00:22:41 |
but I stood out like a sore thumb |
| 00:22:49 |
The parents hated me and called me strange. |
| 00:22:54 |
I felt guilty for years. |
| 00:22:56 |
Somehow I had failed. |
| 00:22:59 |
Morally. |
| 00:23:06 |
This is a red pillar box. |
| 00:23:08 |
How do you know that? |
| 00:23:10 |
I've done my homework. |
| 00:23:12 |
Green is green. |
| 00:23:16 |
Children learn by believing adults. |
| 00:23:18 |
Doubt comes after belief. |
| 00:23:20 |
I know what I believe. |
| 00:23:22 |
Where I come from there are no adults, |
| 00:23:30 |
If I post this letter to New York, does that |
| 00:23:36 |
The earth does exist. |
| 00:23:39 |
And so do Martians. |
| 00:23:41 |
(Xylophone) |
| 00:23:44 |
(Ticking) |
| 00:23:49 |
Well, you end the book with the line, |
| 00:23:53 |
"Whereof one cannot speak, |
| 00:23:57 |
Why didn't you? |
| 00:23:59 |
I don't understand a word, Ludwig. |
| 00:24:03 |
How much were you paid for this? |
| 00:24:06 |
I was paid nothing for the rights, |
| 00:24:10 |
Typical. You won't be able |
| 00:24:14 |
But I have published a book. |
| 00:24:16 |
I heard that the book was only published |
| 00:24:18 |
because Bertrand Russell |
| 00:24:21 |
LUDWIG: I have Russell's introduction. |
| 00:24:23 |
He can't understand a word either. |
| 00:24:25 |
HERMINE: Who can? |
| 00:24:27 |
Hermine, we must improve ourselves. |
| 00:24:34 |
That's all we can do to better the world. |
| 00:24:39 |
Is it true you're designing Gretyl |
| 00:24:42 |
That's right. The whole thing. |
| 00:24:45 |
Right down to the window latches |
| 00:24:49 |
Well, I hope it's more comprehensible |
| 00:24:56 |
(Phone rings) |
| 00:25:02 |
Maynard? |
| 00:25:04 |
- Maynard? |
| 00:25:06 |
Ah. |
| 00:25:07 |
His book is obscure and too short. |
| 00:25:10 |
But good. |
| 00:25:12 |
My introduction got it published. |
| 00:25:13 |
Yes, but I still think |
| 00:25:16 |
Maynard, we're going to be late. |
| 00:25:19 |
You're going to have to sort out his grants. |
| 00:25:21 |
In a moment of amnesia, he gave away |
| 00:25:25 |
An absolute fortune, I'm told. |
| 00:25:27 |
If I can sort out the economies of the world, |
| 00:25:29 |
I ought to be able to sort out a stipend |
| 00:25:32 |
- That is, if Cambridge will still have him. |
| 00:25:36 |
His Tractatus is all the rage, |
| 00:25:40 |
Well, leave it to me, I know how to get him back. |
| 00:25:43 |
Oh, er, Maynard, hold on a moment, I just... |
| 00:25:47 |
Johnny, do you feel like a trip to Vienna? |
| 00:25:51 |
Vienna? |
| 00:25:52 |
(Choir chants) |
| 00:26:14 |
Dr Wittgenstein. |
| 00:26:17 |
Dr Wittgenstein. |
| 00:26:28 |
I've come to take you home. |
| 00:26:31 |
Home? |
| 00:26:33 |
- Where's that? |
| 00:26:35 |
Cambridge. |
| 00:26:38 |
God help me. |
| 00:26:41 |
I have letters from Mr Keynes and Mr Russell. |
| 00:26:45 |
I should introduce myself. |
| 00:26:47 |
Johnny. |
| 00:26:55 |
Mr Russell asked me to tell you |
| 00:27:00 |
Well... |
| 00:27:03 |
Tell me, Johnny, are you a philosopher? |
| 00:27:07 |
Yes. |
| 00:27:09 |
Are you happy? |
| 00:27:13 |
You know, you really should give it up. |
| 00:27:17 |
Get out while you still can. |
| 00:27:20 |
(Graceful piano music) |
| 00:27:40 |
Lydia! |
| 00:27:42 |
Ah, Maynard. |
| 00:27:43 |
God has arrived. He was on the 5:15 train. |
| 00:27:46 |
Are you sure it's a good idea bringing him here, |
| 00:27:50 |
I've heard he's difficult and peculiar. |
| 00:27:55 |
A philosopher is a citizen of no community. |
| 00:28:00 |
Does he make fit with Bloomsbury friends? |
| 00:28:05 |
He seems so heavy-handed and Germanic. |
| 00:28:11 |
Yes, he is. |
| 00:28:13 |
Why are you all so interesting in him? |
| 00:28:16 |
Because he's a genius, Lydoushka. |
| 00:28:20 |
Yes, but what is he doing? |
| 00:28:23 |
He's trying to define for us |
| 00:28:26 |
And what it is to have communication, |
| 00:28:30 |
Don't be so pompous. |
| 00:28:33 |
Dearest darling, I am going to be pompous. |
| 00:28:36 |
The country needs |
| 00:28:38 |
Bertie needs some competition. |
| 00:28:43 |
Maynardoushka, your head |
| 00:29:26 |
What are you doing? |
| 00:29:31 |
Go away, please! |
| 00:29:33 |
They're torturing me! |
| 00:29:36 |
For God's sake, just open your mouth |
| 00:29:38 |
and say the first thing |
| 00:29:41 |
Don't be so ridiculous. |
| 00:29:44 |
Listen, just get through this seminar |
| 00:30:15 |
A dog... cannot lie. |
| 00:30:20 |
Neither can he be sincere. |
| 00:30:25 |
A dog may be expecting his master to come. |
| 00:30:29 |
Why can't he be expecting him |
| 00:30:34 |
Is it because he doesn't have language? |
| 00:30:40 |
If a lion could speak, we would not |
| 00:30:49 |
Why do I say such a thing? |
| 00:30:53 |
If we could understand him, I shouldn't think |
| 00:30:57 |
We could get an interpreter. |
| 00:31:00 |
Do you mean for me or for the lion? |
| 00:31:02 |
Yes, yes, we...we could get an interpreter. |
| 00:31:06 |
But what possible use would that be? |
| 00:31:08 |
To imagine a language |
| 00:31:13 |
It's what we do and who we are |
| 00:31:17 |
I can't understand the lion's language, |
| 00:31:21 |
How can I know the world a lion inhabits? |
| 00:31:28 |
Do I fail to understand him |
| 00:31:48 |
(Whispering) |
| 00:32:04 |
What's going on behind my words, |
| 00:32:13 |
No, please, take your time. |
| 00:32:15 |
STUDENT: The thought, Professor. |
| 00:32:17 |
I see. |
| 00:32:20 |
And what is the thought that lies behind |
| 00:32:27 |
This is a very pleasant pineapple. |
| 00:32:29 |
Listen to me. |
| 00:32:31 |
We imagine the meaning of what we say as |
| 00:32:37 |
But nothing is hidden! |
| 00:32:42 |
It's just... |
| 00:32:44 |
it's just philosophers who muddy the waters. |
| 00:32:48 |
STUDENT: Professor Wittgenstein. |
| 00:32:51 |
You can't know this pain. |
| 00:32:53 |
Only I can. |
| 00:32:56 |
Are you sure you know it? |
| 00:32:58 |
You don't doubt you had a pain just then? |
| 00:33:00 |
How could I? |
| 00:33:02 |
If we can't speak of doubt here, |
| 00:33:07 |
I don't follow. |
| 00:33:08 |
It makes no sense |
| 00:33:10 |
in a context where |
| 00:33:13 |
Therefore to say, "I know I am in pain," |
| 00:33:17 |
When you want to know the meaning of a word, |
| 00:33:23 |
look at the uses of the word in our way of life. |
| 00:33:27 |
Look at how we behave. |
| 00:33:30 |
Are you saying |
| 00:33:33 |
There are... |
| 00:33:36 |
linguistic, |
| 00:33:38 |
mathematical, ethical, |
| 00:33:40 |
logistic and... religious problems, |
| 00:33:44 |
but there are |
| 00:33:49 |
You're trivialising philosophy. |
| 00:33:52 |
Philosophy is just |
| 00:33:59 |
Why don't you realise that? |
| 00:34:04 |
Oh, dear. He can't bear disagreement, can he? |
| 00:34:34 |
What are you doing? |
| 00:34:36 |
Making notes on your class before I forget it. |
| 00:34:39 |
Are you mad? You'll ruin the plot. |
| 00:34:41 |
Shh. |
| 00:34:43 |
There is no plot. |
| 00:34:48 |
There might be. |
| 00:34:51 |
Put it away. |
| 00:34:53 |
Put it away this instant. |
| 00:35:02 |
What did you say about Fortnum & Mason? |
| 00:35:05 |
Don't be ridiculous. |
| 00:35:20 |
LUDWIG AS AN ADULT: There was no |
| 00:35:24 |
I loved films. |
| 00:35:26 |
Especially westerns and musicals. |
| 00:35:28 |
Carmen Miranda and Betty Hutton |
| 00:35:35 |
I always sat in the front row. |
| 00:35:38 |
Film felt like a shower bath, |
| 00:35:44 |
I hated the newsreels. |
| 00:35:46 |
Far too patriotic. |
| 00:35:49 |
I felt the makers |
| 00:35:56 |
As for playing the national anthem at the end, |
| 00:36:05 |
(Graceful piano music) |
| 00:36:18 |
Come on, Maynard! |
| 00:36:20 |
Speed it up. |
| 00:36:23 |
Can't go any faster, it's making me giddy. |
| 00:36:26 |
Should I go any faster, Ludwig? |
| 00:36:28 |
No, no, you keep going as you are. Come on |
| 00:36:32 |
You're slowing the whole thing down. |
| 00:36:35 |
I'm done for. |
| 00:36:37 |
You've ruined the whole thing! |
| 00:36:39 |
We were just getting into rhythm. |
| 00:36:41 |
Go away and play with someone else! |
| 00:36:43 |
All right. |
| 00:36:46 |
You can be the sun this time. It's easier. |
| 00:36:49 |
I'll be the earth, |
| 00:36:51 |
and Lydia can be the moon. |
| 00:36:54 |
We take rest. |
| 00:36:55 |
Take tea. |
| 00:36:57 |
Come along, Maynard. |
| 00:37:04 |
Oh, dear. |
| 00:37:07 |
I wonder where I went wrong? |
| 00:37:22 |
Oh, Bertie, do listen to this. |
| 00:37:28 |
"For he talks nonsense, |
| 00:37:31 |
Forever his own vow of silence breaks |
| 00:37:33 |
Ethics, aesthetics, talks of day and night |
| 00:37:40 |
Who on any issue ever saw |
| 00:37:45 |
In every company he shouts us down |
| 00:37:50 |
Unceasing argues, harsh, irate and loud, |
| 00:37:55 |
Such faults are common, shared by all in part, |
| 00:38:03 |
WittersGitters, WittersGitters, WittersGitters! |
| 00:38:09 |
Fairy, fairy, fairy! |
| 00:38:16 |
Idiot! |
| 00:38:26 |
What does this mean? |
| 00:38:28 |
It's a gesture of contempt. |
| 00:38:31 |
A cyclist did this to me |
| 00:38:35 |
I decided then and there to kill myself. |
| 00:38:38 |
Are you coming to the Palladium with us |
| 00:38:41 |
What's the logical structure of this gesture? |
| 00:38:45 |
It doesn't have one! |
| 00:38:48 |
That means I've spent most of my life |
| 00:38:52 |
Isn't it rather an over-reaction to kill yourself, |
| 00:38:59 |
Philosophy hunts for the essence of meaning. |
| 00:39:03 |
There's no such thing. |
| 00:39:06 |
Just the way we do things in everyday life |
| 00:39:09 |
The college porter knows that. |
| 00:39:11 |
Is that what you're planning to do |
| 00:39:14 |
L-I shall start by committing suicide. |
| 00:39:16 |
Champagne before you go? |
| 00:39:18 |
Um, do you know... |
| 00:39:20 |
l-I'd love a cup of tea. |
| 00:39:43 |
How like a philosopher to hate philosophy. |
| 00:39:46 |
He thinks ordinary working people |
| 00:39:49 |
He wants me to give up philosophy. |
| 00:39:51 |
Perhaps I should. |
| 00:39:55 |
Philosophy just states what everyone admits. |
| 00:39:57 |
How does philosophy take the measure of this? |
| 00:40:04 |
It's not supposed to. |
| 00:40:06 |
It'd be like complaining |
| 00:40:10 |
Precisely. |
| 00:40:12 |
Do you think philosophy is useless? |
| 00:40:14 |
Oh, no. |
| 00:40:17 |
It serves Ludwig as a therapy. |
| 00:40:20 |
Are you going to take his advice? |
| 00:40:24 |
I was destined for the pit. |
| 00:40:27 |
My parents gave up everything to get me here. |
| 00:40:30 |
I'd be quite happy to go back, |
| 00:40:34 |
but it would break their hearts. |
| 00:40:43 |
Well, what about Aristotle? |
| 00:40:46 |
What about Aristotle? |
| 00:40:49 |
L-I've never read Aristotle. |
| 00:40:53 |
What can he tell us, anyway? |
| 00:40:55 |
The answers are in Tolstoy, |
| 00:40:59 |
How marvellous! |
| 00:41:01 |
I didn't know you were a Christian, Ludwig! |
| 00:41:04 |
I'm not. |
| 00:41:05 |
It's just that I look at everything |
| 00:41:10 |
Why is there anything at all |
| 00:41:15 |
Well, how the bloody blue blazes |
| 00:41:17 |
I'm the woman. You are the philosopher. |
| 00:41:19 |
The most important part of my philosophy |
| 00:41:22 |
I can't write it. It can never be written. |
| 00:41:25 |
Oh, bunkum! A full English breakfast |
| 00:41:29 |
It doubt it'll be understood in the future. |
| 00:41:31 |
People, culture, the air, |
| 00:41:36 |
We're mutating. |
| 00:41:40 |
You know, your obsession with perfection |
| 00:41:45 |
I want to be perfect, don't you? |
| 00:41:48 |
Christ, no. |
| 00:41:50 |
- Then I don't see how we can be friends. |
| 00:42:00 |
I used to believe |
| 00:42:07 |
But it can't give us a picture of how it does that. |
| 00:42:12 |
That would be like trying to see yourself |
| 00:42:18 |
How language does that is beyond expression. |
| 00:42:25 |
That is the mystery. |
| 00:42:30 |
That was all wrong. |
| 00:42:33 |
Language isn't a picture at all. |
| 00:42:37 |
What is it, then? |
| 00:42:40 |
It's... |
| 00:42:43 |
...a tool. |
| 00:42:45 |
An instrument. |
| 00:42:48 |
There isn't just one picture of the world, |
| 00:42:53 |
different forms of life, |
| 00:42:56 |
They don't all hang together! |
| 00:42:58 |
What do you mean? |
| 00:43:01 |
All I mean is the limits of my language |
| 00:43:06 |
We keep running up |
| 00:43:17 |
I'm terribly sorry. |
| 00:43:22 |
You have a worthless teacher today. |
| 00:43:24 |
I... |
| 00:43:26 |
I'm all cleaned out. |
| 00:43:30 |
Please forgive me. |
| 00:43:32 |
That was quite masterly. |
| 00:43:35 |
- It was frightful. |
| 00:43:37 |
Made me feel like a vegetable. |
| 00:43:40 |
How could it possibly? |
| 00:43:42 |
It doesn't feel like anything to be a vegetable. |
| 00:43:45 |
STUDENT: I just can't see it, Professor. |
| 00:43:48 |
It somehow just seems natural to me to say, |
| 00:43:52 |
Oh... natural. |
| 00:43:56 |
Tell me, |
| 00:43:59 |
why does it seem more natural |
| 00:44:02 |
for people to believe that the sun goes round |
| 00:44:10 |
Well, obviously, because it looks that way. |
| 00:44:12 |
I see. |
| 00:44:14 |
Then how would it look |
| 00:44:17 |
Erm... |
| 00:44:19 |
well, I suppose... |
| 00:44:25 |
Yes, I see what you mean. |
| 00:45:16 |
LUDWIG AS A BOY: Seminar, flick. |
| 00:45:19 |
(Gunfire and Native Americans whooping) |
| 00:45:24 |
Seminar. |
| 00:45:26 |
(Cavalry trumpet) |
| 00:45:28 |
Seminar. |
| 00:45:32 |
Flick. |
| 00:45:40 |
Seminar. |
| 00:45:44 |
Flick. |
| 00:45:49 |
LUDWIG AS AN ADULT: On and on it went. |
| 00:45:52 |
Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridge. |
| 00:45:57 |
No wonder everyone dreamed of Moscow. |
| 00:46:00 |
Keynes and Russell had both been there. |
| 00:46:04 |
Bertie, always the opportunist, |
| 00:46:08 |
The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism. |
| 00:46:12 |
He condemned it out of hand. |
| 00:46:14 |
But, as everyone knows, |
| 00:46:17 |
the best of the Cambridge lot became spies. |
| 00:46:22 |
My dream was to go to the Soviet Union |
| 00:46:49 |
I've fixed you up a job |
| 00:46:53 |
Why? |
| 00:46:55 |
I thought you'd be pleased. |
| 00:46:57 |
You'd be working with your hands. |
| 00:47:00 |
You should do something useful. |
| 00:47:02 |
But Ludwig, |
| 00:47:04 |
my training's academic. |
| 00:47:06 |
That's the challenge. |
| 00:47:07 |
I'm going to Russia. |
| 00:47:11 |
Why do you want to go to Russia? |
| 00:47:13 |
Oh, by the way, you'll have to lend me a tie. |
| 00:47:42 |
Professor Wittgenstein, on behalf of the Institute |
| 00:47:48 |
The chair in philosophy at Kazan University |
| 00:47:51 |
or a teaching post in philosophy |
| 00:47:54 |
Er, comrade, please. |
| 00:47:56 |
I don't want to teach. |
| 00:47:58 |
I want to work as a manual labourer, |
| 00:48:04 |
But, Professor, eto nyevozmozhno. |
| 00:48:08 |
Nyeuzheli vy nye ponimayetye? |
| 00:48:12 |
Chto? |
| 00:48:13 |
I'm terribly sorry, Professor Wittgenstein, |
| 00:48:18 |
The one thing that is not in short supply |
| 00:48:23 |
Da. |
| 00:48:25 |
Da, da, Professor. |
| 00:48:27 |
We must teach the frozen circumstances |
| 00:48:32 |
Professor Wittgenstein, |
| 00:48:39 |
Eto shutka. |
| 00:48:41 |
I couldn't possibly read Hegel. |
| 00:48:43 |
I'd go stark raving mad. |
| 00:48:47 |
Tell me, have you read Trotsky on art? |
| 00:48:50 |
That's much more interesting. |
| 00:48:53 |
Nyet, Professor, ya nye chitala Trotskogo. |
| 00:48:55 |
Trotskiy - eto opasno. |
| 00:48:59 |
Vy priyezhayetye v Moskvu, vy khotitye rabotat' |
| 00:49:03 |
v kolkhozye, vy khotitye, chtoby ya chitala |
| 00:49:06 |
Trotsky - eto Sibir'. |
| 00:49:10 |
(Bell) |
| 00:49:12 |
Next one. |
| 00:49:27 |
How was Russia? |
| 00:49:29 |
Well, at least Lenin's state |
| 00:49:36 |
It is an ordered society. |
| 00:49:41 |
Are you enjoying yourself? |
| 00:49:43 |
Yes, I am. |
| 00:49:45 |
You were right. |
| 00:49:47 |
- Did you find yourself a job in Russia? |
| 00:49:49 |
It looks like I'm stuck with Cambridge |
| 00:49:55 |
Ludwig, give it up. |
| 00:50:24 |
What the hell are you playing at, Ludwig? |
| 00:50:26 |
I've just been talking to Johnny. |
| 00:50:28 |
What do you mean? |
| 00:50:30 |
I mean all this poppycock |
| 00:50:34 |
What do you think his parents will think? |
| 00:50:36 |
I haven't the foggiest. |
| 00:50:38 |
Johnny's parents are working people. |
| 00:50:41 |
His father's a miner. |
| 00:50:43 |
They sacrificed everything they have |
| 00:50:46 |
What's Johnny's parents got to do with it? |
| 00:50:49 |
Listen, Wittgenstein, |
| 00:50:53 |
That's what you admire, |
| 00:50:58 |
I've never met Johnny's parents. |
| 00:51:01 |
I strongly advise you not to. |
| 00:51:04 |
You're foisting your own self-hatred |
| 00:51:09 |
You've been reading Sigmund Freud. |
| 00:51:11 |
What of it? |
| 00:51:13 |
It's dangerous stuff! |
| 00:51:15 |
Believe me! |
| 00:51:19 |
Freud's nothing to do with Johnny |
| 00:51:24 |
You can't do this, Wittgenstein. |
| 00:51:26 |
You can't use Johnny |
| 00:51:30 |
What I do is none of your business. |
| 00:51:33 |
It's my business to stop you from... |
| 00:51:35 |
oh, what's your word, |
| 00:51:38 |
You have a terrible power over them, |
| 00:51:41 |
Half of Cambridge goes around |
| 00:51:45 |
You know I've never encouraged disciples. |
| 00:51:49 |
I'm talking about you, not your ideas. |
| 00:51:52 |
You lord it over others |
| 00:51:56 |
All aristocrats idealise the common folk, |
| 00:52:04 |
I should know, I was brought up like that, too. |
| 00:52:08 |
If you're talking about my upbringing, |
| 00:52:13 |
In another country! |
| 00:52:16 |
How can I possibly speak to a man |
| 00:52:19 |
I'm simply quoting your own words. |
| 00:52:25 |
Russell, |
| 00:52:27 |
I would like you to know |
| 00:53:10 |
I had a fearful row with Russell yesterday. |
| 00:53:14 |
He said I was an evil influence. |
| 00:53:18 |
What is worrying you, Ludwig? |
| 00:53:22 |
Both. |
| 00:53:24 |
My sins mostly. |
| 00:53:25 |
Sins, sinners, sinning. |
| 00:53:28 |
What nonsense you do talk. |
| 00:53:32 |
Well, you mustn't expect |
| 00:53:35 |
I never imagined you were. |
| 00:53:41 |
Do you know, Maynard, every hour, every day, |
| 00:53:48 |
and the slightest gust of dishonesty |
| 00:53:53 |
That's why people think I'm so strange. |
| 00:53:57 |
I don't know what to say to you. |
| 00:54:00 |
You're suffering from |
| 00:54:03 |
If you'd just allow yourself to be a little |
| 00:54:09 |
Salvation is the only thing that concerns me. |
| 00:54:12 |
And I know we're not here to have a good time. |
| 00:54:17 |
Spoken like a true Protestant. |
| 00:54:21 |
Ludwig, my dear, there's nothing in the world |
| 00:54:29 |
For me, it's as if I'm being burnt |
| 00:54:35 |
Pull yourself together. |
| 00:54:47 |
Philosophy is a sickness of the mind. |
| 00:54:52 |
I mustn't infect too many young men. |
| 00:54:58 |
How unique and irreplaceable Johnny is. |
| 00:55:01 |
And yet, how little I realise this |
| 00:55:08 |
That's always been a problem. |
| 00:55:12 |
But living in a world where such a love is illegal, |
| 00:55:15 |
and trying to live open and honest |
| 00:55:23 |
I have...known...Johnny three times. |
| 00:55:29 |
And each time I began with feeling |
| 00:55:35 |
But after, |
| 00:55:38 |
I felt shamed. |
| 00:55:49 |
JOHNNY: What are you thinking? |
| 00:55:52 |
Oh, just some... |
| 00:55:55 |
...idea. |
| 00:55:58 |
What idea? |
| 00:56:01 |
Well, for many years at the centre of philosophy |
| 00:56:05 |
was a picture of the lonely human soul |
| 00:56:12 |
Yeah, everyone knows that. |
| 00:56:17 |
This soul is a prisoner of his own body, |
| 00:56:21 |
and he's locked out from contact with others |
| 00:56:29 |
I wanted to get rid of this picture. |
| 00:56:34 |
There is no private meaning. |
| 00:56:37 |
We are what we are... only because... |
| 00:56:42 |
...we share a common language |
| 00:56:49 |
Do you understand what I'm saying? |
| 00:56:52 |
Do you understand what I'm saying? |
| 00:57:44 |
(Like a toff) Yes. |
| 00:57:45 |
Yes, I'd like that very much. Yes, Wednesday. |
| 00:57:48 |
Oh, does that suit you? |
| 00:57:50 |
It suits me fine, yes. |
| 00:57:52 |
Yes. I thought so, yes. |
| 00:57:55 |
Yes, he was. Really? |
| 00:57:57 |
Oh, Bertie? Yes, I know, yes, yes. |
| 00:58:00 |
For many years, yes. |
| 00:58:02 |
(Normal voice) Christ! |
| 00:58:05 |
Professor, you once said the Tractatus |
| 00:58:11 |
Yes. |
| 00:58:13 |
So I thought at the time. |
| 00:58:15 |
What I meant was that I tried to show |
| 00:58:20 |
and these aren't really important. |
| 00:58:22 |
What's much more important |
| 00:58:26 |
Doesn't cut the mustard, philosophy? |
| 00:58:29 |
- You think. |
| 00:58:32 |
So I thought at the time. |
| 00:58:36 |
Now, talking about your more recent work, |
| 00:58:41 |
That's right. In this later work I abandoned |
| 00:58:46 |
That's just a misleading metaphor. |
| 00:58:49 |
I mean, you might say that the word "handbag" |
| 00:58:54 |
But what about words like "hello", |
| 00:58:57 |
"perhaps", "oh, hell", |
| 00:58:59 |
what do they give us a picture of? |
| 00:59:02 |
So how would you now define the relationship |
| 00:59:08 |
Oh, in lots of different ways. |
| 00:59:11 |
My mistake had been to think that |
| 00:59:16 |
I came to see that there are |
| 00:59:20 |
Different language games, as I call them. |
| 00:59:23 |
And the meaning of the word is just the way |
| 00:59:31 |
And what do you now believe |
| 00:59:35 |
Philosophical puzzles arise because we tend |
| 00:59:40 |
For example, people puzzle over |
| 00:59:44 |
But this may just be because they're thinking |
| 00:59:51 |
They're confusing |
| 00:59:55 |
The job of philosophy |
| 00:59:59 |
Exactly. |
| 01:00:01 |
They're all perfectly in order as they are. |
| 01:00:03 |
Philosophy in no sense can question them. |
| 01:00:05 |
Philosophy leaves everything exactly as it is. |
| 01:00:10 |
Professor Wittgenstein, |
| 01:00:13 |
that there can't be a private language. |
| 01:00:16 |
Could you explain this a little? |
| 01:00:18 |
What I mean is this, |
| 01:00:21 |
we learn to use words, |
| 01:00:26 |
A form of life. |
| 01:00:28 |
A practical way of doing things. |
| 01:00:30 |
In the end, we speak as we do, |
| 01:00:36 |
And all this is a properly public affair. |
| 01:00:39 |
Philosophers in the tradition of Descartes |
| 01:00:42 |
start from the lonely self, |
| 01:00:49 |
I want to overturn this centuries-old model. |
| 01:00:53 |
I want to start from our culture, |
| 01:00:56 |
our shared practical life together, |
| 01:00:58 |
and look at what we think and feel, |
| 01:01:03 |
and say it in these public terms. |
| 01:01:07 |
Professor, thank you very much. |
| 01:01:14 |
I'm thinking of going away. |
| 01:01:16 |
Not again, Ludwig. |
| 01:01:19 |
I'm serious, Maynard. |
| 01:01:21 |
Where to this time? |
| 01:01:23 |
Norway? Vienna? |
| 01:01:25 |
Swansea? |
| 01:01:27 |
Not the Soviet Union again? |
| 01:01:29 |
What's wrong with the Soviet Union? |
| 01:01:32 |
The place is one enormous labour camp. |
| 01:01:34 |
There's nothing wrong with labour. |
| 01:01:36 |
There is if they shoot you for not doing it. |
| 01:01:42 |
I want to give up teaching philosophy |
| 01:01:48 |
Why not do it in Cambridge, and be paid? |
| 01:01:52 |
I'm going to Ireland to live by the sea. |
| 01:01:56 |
In Ireland they shoot you if you work. |
| 01:02:02 |
Oh, Ludwig. |
| 01:02:05 |
I know, |
| 01:02:07 |
I'm a complete bloody disaster. |
| 01:02:10 |
We love you. |
| 01:02:19 |
(Waves lap gently) |
| 01:02:29 |
Dr Wittgenstein. |
| 01:02:31 |
Oh, you're here. Good. |
| 01:02:33 |
At last. |
| 01:02:35 |
You couldn't have chosen a more remote place. |
| 01:02:39 |
Well, how's the work on your book? |
| 01:02:41 |
Creeping along. |
| 01:02:43 |
That means you've penned a masterpiece. |
| 01:02:47 |
What's the news from the doctor? |
| 01:02:49 |
- It's not good, I'm afraid. |
| 01:02:53 |
Last week I saw a specialist in Dublin. |
| 01:02:56 |
I have cancer of the prostate. |
| 01:02:58 |
Oh, I'm sorry. |
| 01:03:01 |
It responds well to hormone treatment |
| 01:03:06 |
Is there anything I can do? |
| 01:03:08 |
Don't think I'm afraid of dying. |
| 01:03:11 |
It's death that gives life its meaning and shape. |
| 01:03:17 |
You can take me back to Cambridge. |
| 01:03:19 |
I don't want to die here. |
| 01:03:23 |
Any time you like. |
| 01:04:07 |
You know, |
| 01:04:09 |
I'd quite like to have composed a philosophical |
| 01:04:17 |
Why didn't you? |
| 01:04:20 |
Sadly, I didn't have a sense of humour. |
| 01:04:25 |
Let me tell you a little story. |
| 01:04:29 |
There was once a young man who dreamed |
| 01:04:34 |
Because he was a very clever young man, |
| 01:04:38 |
When he'd finished his work, |
| 01:04:40 |
It was beautiful. |
| 01:04:42 |
A world purged |
| 01:04:46 |
Countless acres of gleaming ice |
| 01:04:51 |
So the clever young man looked around the |
| 01:04:56 |
He took one step forward |
| 01:04:59 |
You see, he'd forgotten about friction. |
| 01:05:01 |
The ice was smooth and level and stainless. |
| 01:05:05 |
But you couldn't walk there. |
| 01:05:07 |
So the clever young man sat down |
| 01:05:13 |
But as he grew into a wise old man, |
| 01:05:16 |
he came to understand that |
| 01:05:20 |
they're what make the world turn. |
| 01:05:22 |
He wanted to run and dance. |
| 01:05:25 |
And the words |
| 01:05:28 |
were all battered |
| 01:05:31 |
The wise old man |
| 01:05:37 |
But something in him |
| 01:05:42 |
where everything was radiant and absolute |
| 01:05:48 |
Though he had come to like |
| 01:05:51 |
he couldn't bring himself to live there. |
| 01:05:54 |
So now he was marooned |
| 01:06:02 |
And this was the cause of all his grief. |
| 01:06:05 |
⪠MOZART: Rondo in A Minor, K511 |
| 01:06:14 |
Hail Chromodynamics, Lord of Quantum. |
| 01:06:19 |
This is Quark, Charm and Strangeness |
| 01:06:24 |
Concerning the philosopher |
| 01:06:31 |
The solution to the riddle of life |
| 01:06:36 |
lies outside space and time. |
| 01:06:40 |
But as you know and I know, |
| 01:06:46 |
If a question can be put at all, |
| 01:06:58 |
⪠CÃSAR FRANCK: |
