The Autobiographical Aspect of Wittgenstein's Philosophy: Life Sub Specie Aeternitatis

The article analyzes the relationship between Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophical works and his spiritual, ethical experiences presented in the diaries of different years. The author reveals the anthropological significance of philosophy and autobiography as practices of self-creation, considers the dichotomy between vanity and humility inherent in Wittgenstein's autobiographical discourse. A careful study of autobiographical materials (diaries, notes, and letters) can allow one to read Wittgenstein's philosophical writings in the spirit in which they were conceived, as well as to see the commonality of his philosophical and personal interests. The author shows that, for Wittgenstein, the wartime notebooks of 1914-1916, written in the face of death, are a practice of preserving himself, his freedom and a way to rise above the baseness, cruelty, and obscenity of his environment. The themes of the diaries from the 1930s are somewhat different. The autobiographical notes of these years replace a person to confide to and also act as a space for introspection and even confession. The author emphasizes the fundamental difference between autobiography and autobiographical notes: autobiography is an intellectual act of presenting personal experiences, adjusted for potential readers, in which I am presented to myself as the other, while autobiographical notes (diaries) are a kind of activity of will and spirit, an existential practice that unfolds in the present and lacks an explicit opposition between the author and the hero. In the conclusion, the author argues that the close relationship between Wittgenstein's philosophy and personal notes (and his life in general) is determined by the fact that these practices for him are primarily a work on himself, his own point of view and his way of perceiving things. According to Wittgenstein, it is necessary to break one's own pride in order to engage in both diary keeping and philosophical activities with honesty and dignity. For Wittgenstein, philosophy is a way of life, namely, a life of knowledge, in which reflection on logic naturally coexists with repentance of one's sins as two sides of the same personal task. The trajectory of Wittgenstein's life path demonstrates his continuous ethical reflection, his adherence to a genuine demand for honesty, uncovering, and his desire to live a decent, good life, visible sub specie aeternitatis.

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