In the Beginning Was the Redeeming Word: Tolstoy’s Spiritual Influence on the Genesis of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus

This article discusses the influence of Leo Tolstoy on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s early philosophy. In particular, we elucidate the influence that Wittgenstein’s reading of Tolstoy’s Gospel in Brief had on the genesis of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, in inspiration, structure, and content. Central to our account is the idea of ‘the redeeming word (das erlösende Wort)’, which Wittgenstein sought in ‘liberating’ us from the problems of philosophy, liberation that had a deep spiritual and ethical purpose.