The Paradox Box

About this curriculum

This novel is part of an innovative philosophy curriculum that uses engaging stories to introduce students to important philosophical concepts. This book, a work of historical fiction, explores the early thinking of Ludwig Wittgenstein, who published one of the most important works of logic ever written. The story is told by David Pinsent, who meets Wittgenstein just before World War I. The two become intimate, but David is troubled by the mysteries that surround Wittgenstein, which escalate as the war looms. Their story is one of international intrigue and forbidden relationships, and it aptly illustrates the deeply human core of philosophical ideas. Ludwig Wittgenstein was a brilliant, intense, complex man, and this novel, a work of historical fiction but based on fact, explores his early thinking, which led him to publish one of the most important works of logic ever written. The story is told by David Pinsent, a student in mathematics who meets Wittgenstein at Trinity College in Cambridge, England, just before World War I. Despite Wittgenstein’s odd mannerisms…