Sold – Wittgenstein Evaluates the Potential of Philosopher Alice Ambrose When She Was His Student

Wittgenstein was one of the 20th century’s most important philosophers. He worked primarily in the foundations of logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He also taught at Cambridge University, and his influence has been wide-ranging. Alice Ambrose studied under Wittgenstein at Cambride and became his close disciple. A renowned philosopher in her own right, she later related her association with him in her book, “Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophy and Language.”

Typed Report Signed with autograph date in his hand, Cambridge, November 29, 1934, evaluating Alice Ambrose when she was his student, and showing his early appreciation of her talents and abilities. “Miss Alice Ambrose has been attending my classes regularly since the beginning of last academical year. I have been giving two courses of conversation classes entitled ’Philosophy’ and ’Philosophy for Mathematicians’. As my classes are very small I have been in a position to get to know her ability, her way of thinking and discussing, and general attitude towards the subject. I am greatly impressed by her extraordinary seriousness and sincerity, and have found her indefatigable in trying to understand the extremely difficult problems we have been discussing. I am sure she will make a valuable, painstaking and patient teacher of philosophy, as she has acquired the rare capacity of seeing the extraordinary difficulty and complexity of philosophical problems…The problem of mathematical finitism which she has set herself to investigate is a central problem of modern philosophy…”