You won’t find it on Netflix, but there is a strange and delightful movie by Derek Jarman on Wittgenstein.

http://www.openculture.com/2013/03/iwittgensteini_watch_derek_jarmans_tribute_to_the_philosopher_featuring_tilda_swinton_1993.html  I came across it because I watch most anything in which Tilda Swinton appears. The analytic philosopher, giant of the 20th century, would be fascinating to meet  – but he would not likely agree to that. From all I have read he tended to be a social recluse. And what would we talk about? His philosophical works are beyond me, his history of loss (3 brothers committed suicide) and hiding (he was probably gay) and largesse (he gave away his inherited fortune) too personal to mention. His approach of Bertrand Russel with the question: “Tell me if I am an idiot, if yes: then I remain in aeronautical engineering, if not I’ll become a philosopher” was daring but successful. It would be rude to remind him. His last words on his deathbed are probably a myth: “Tell them I’ve had a wonderful life.”

Come to think of it, we’d talk about handles. Having finished his first major work Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Wittgenstein withdrew into rural Austria doing odd jobs, some teaching. His sister wanted to get him back into the “real world”, society for her, and asked him to participate in the construction of her new house. His involvement was limited, he focussed on design of smaller features like windows, radiators and handles, but it got him back on track and off to Cambridge soon thereafter.

“To details like the door-handles, in particular, Wittgenstein accorded what Monk calls “an almost fanatical exactitude,” driving locksmiths and engineers to tears as they sought to meet his seemingly impossible standards. The unpainted tubular door-handle that Wittgenstein designed for Gretl’s house remains the prototype for all such door-handles, still popular in the twenty-first century.”This from the interesting review here:

http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/05/24/wittgensteins-handles/ 

For the person who has everything, by the way, and needs to get rid of their money on some famous design features, there are companies offering replicas of famous people’s designs http://www.bauhaus-fittings.com/136/Ludwig_Wittgenstein.htm.  – too bad they don’t even get their facts straight in their ads…..

 

In the end the preoccupation of handles made it into his philosophical teachings. He used an analogy of handles when exploring the function of words and comparing them to the function of objects. I, on the other hand, just find them beautiful and testimony to the creativity of craftsmen for even the smallest details.