David Pinsent
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David Pinsent was a friend and collaborator of the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein described him as his first and only friend.[1]
Pinsent gained a first-class honours degree in Mathematics at Cambridge University, where he was described by George Thomson, future master of Corpus Christi College as "the most brilliant man of my year, among the most brilliant I have ever met."[2] He met Wittgenstein at Cambridge in 1912, where he acted as Wittgenstein's subject in psychological experiments on rhythm in speech and music, and struck up a rapport based on shared interests in music and mathematics. This led to holidays together, including trips to Iceland and Norway.[3] During World War I Pinsent was deemed unsuitable for active miliary service, but he trained as a test pilot and worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough. He was killed in a flying accident in 1918. Wittgenstein dedicated his first book, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, to his memory.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Goldstein, Laurence (1999). Clear and Queer Thinking. Rowman & Littlefield, p. 179. ISBN 0847695468.
- ^ Kölbel, Max (2004). Wittgenstein's Lasting Significance. Routledge, p. 150. ISBN 0415305179.
- ^ Ludwig Wittgenstein: Cambridge. Cambridge Wittgenstein Archive. Retrieved on 2008-02-28.
- ^ Galison, Peter Louis; Roland, Alex (2000). Atmospheric Flight in the Twentieth Century. Springer, p. 360. ISBN 0792360370.
