Wittgenstein’s Late Writings

At the end of 1936, Ludwig Wittgenstein abandoned the Brown Book and started work on the Philosophical Investigations. This website provides transcriptions and facsimiles of his writings from 1937–1951. They include drafts and remarks all the way up to Wittgenstein’s death in 1951, when he was working on manuscripts that were later published as On Certainty.

This edition aims to present a subset of Wittgenstein’s writings in a way that prioritizes readability over a faithful reproduction of the manuscript layout. It is not a diplomatic edition: Line breaks, underlining, and other formatting have been normalized rather than reproduced. It would not be possible without the work of the Wittgenstein Archives Bergen, which maintain the authoritative edition of Wittgenstein’s entire Nachlass.

1951

Ms-177

40 remarks, so-called Notebook no.6.2; 1951
published in ‘On Certainty’

Ms-176

318 remarks, so-called Notebook no.6.1; 1950-51
published in ‘On Certainty’, ‘Remarks on Colour’, Part I, and ‘Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 2

Ms-175

247 remarks, so-called Notebook no.1; 1950-51
published in ‘On Certainty’

1950

Ms-143

27 remarks, notes on Frazer’s Golden Bough, second set; 1948?-50?
published in ‘Remarks on Frazer’s Golden Bough’, Part II

Ms-173

420 remarks, so-called Notebook no.5, source for Ms-176; 1950
published in ‘Remarks on Colour’, Part III, and ‘Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 2

Ms-174

196 remarks, so-called Notebook no.7; 1950
published in ‘On Certainty’ and ‘Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 2

Ms-172

89 remarks, 1949?-50?
published in ‘On Certainty’ and ‘Remarks on Colour’, Part II

Ms-171

33 remarks, 1949?-50?
published in ‘Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 2

1949

Ms-170

13 remarks, so-called Notebook no.3; 1949?
published in ‘Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 2

Ms-144

390 remarks, manuscript version of earlier so-called Part II of the Investigations; 1949
published in ‘Philosophical Investigations, Part II’

Ms-138

336 remarks, ‘S’; 1949
published in ‘Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 1

Ms-169

366 remarks, so-called Notebook no.2; 1948?-49?
published in ‘Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 2

Ms-168

23 remarks, so-called Notebook no.4; 1949

Ms-137

1438 remarks, ‘R’; 1948-49
published in parts in ‘Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 1

1948

Ms-167

145 remarks, 1947?-48?

Ts-233a

358 remarks, so-called Zettel I; 1930-48
published in ‘Zettel’

Ts-233b

353 remarks, so-called Zettel II; 1930-48
published in ‘Zettel’

Ts-232

738 remarks, based on MSS 135-137; 1948
published in ‘Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 2

Ms-136

781 remarks, ‘Q’; 1947-48

1947

Ms-178g

2 remarks, 1947?

Ts-245

1120 remarks, 1945-47
published in ‘Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 1

Ms-135

428 remarks, 1947

Ts-229

1141 remarks, continuation of Ts-228; 1947
published in ‘Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 1

Ts-244

34 remarks, 1945-47
published in parts in ‘Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology’ vol. 1

Ms-134

432 remarks, 1947

Ms-133

446 remarks, 1946-47

1946

Ms-132

389 remarks, 1946

Ms-131

355 remarks, 1946

Ms-130

680 remarks, 1944? and 1946

Ts-227a

713 remarks, ‘Philosophische Untersuchungen’; 1944-46
published in ‘Philosophical Investigations, Part I’

Ts-227b

711 remarks, ‘Philosophische Untersuchungen’; 1944-46

1945

Ms-182

3 remarks, list of remarks from Ts-228 included in final version of Investigations; 1945-46?

Ts-228

699 remarks, ‘Bemerkungen I.’, based on MSS 129, 130, 114-116, Ts-213 a.o.; 1945

Ts-230a

547 remarks, ‘Bemerkungen II.’; 1945-46?

Ts-230b

547 remarks, ‘Bemerkungen II.’; 1945-46?

Ts-230c

547 remarks, ‘Bemerkungen II.’; 1945-46?

Ts-231

8 remarks, two lists of corresponding remarks in Bemerkungen I and II; 1945-46?

Ts-235

147 remarks, a table of contents; 1945?

Ms-116

720 remarks, ‘XII. Philosophische Bemerkungen’; 1937-38 and 1945
published in parts in ‘Philosophical Grammar’, Part I App. 4

Ts-242a

54 remarks, pp. 149-195 of Investigations intermediate version; 1944-45?

Ts-242b

54 remarks

Ts-243

3 remarks, preface to Investigations, dated ‘Cambridge im Januar 1945’; 1945

1944

Ms-128

196 remarks, 1944

Ms-164

289 remarks, 1941?-44?
published in parts in ‘Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics’, Part VI

Ms-165

309 remarks, 1941?-44?

Ms-179

119 remarks, so-called Notebooks 1944/45 no.1; 1944

Ms-180b

92 remarks, so-called Notebooks 1944/45 no.3; 1944?-45?

Ms-129

374 remarks, 1944

Ts-241a

114 remarks, based on Ms-129; 1944-45?

Ts-241b

116 remarks, based on Ms-129; 1944-45?

Ms-180a

112 remarks, so-called Notebooks 1944/45 no.2; 1944

Ms-124

692 remarks, 1941 and 1944
published in parts in ‘Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics’, Part VII

Ms-127

474 remarks, ‘F Mathematik und Logik’; 1943-44
published in parts in ‘Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics’, Parts IV-V

1943

Ms-126

282 remarks, 1942-43
published in parts in ‘Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics’, Part V

1942

Ms-125

259 remarks, 1941-42
published in parts in ‘Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics’, Part IV

1941

Ms-166

68 remarks, ‘Notes for the Philosophical Lecture’; 1941?
published in ‘Notes for the Philosophical Lecture’

Ms-163

240 remarks, 1941

Ms-161

216 remarks, source for MSS 123-124; 1939 and 1941

Ms-123

264 remarks, ‘Philosophische Bemerkungen’; 1940-41

1940

Ms-178f

8 remarks, 1940?

Ms-162b

249 remarks, continuation of Ms-162a; 1939-40

Ms-117

563 remarks, ‘XIII. Philosophische Bemerkungen’; 1937-38 and 1940
published in parts in ‘Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics’, Parts II-III

Ms-122

495 remarks, ‘XVIII. Philosophische Bemerkungen’; 1939-40
published in parts in ‘Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics’, Part III

1939

Ms-178c

8 remarks, 1939?

Ms-162a

130 remarks, 1938-39

Ms-121

361 remarks, ‘XVII. Philosophische Bemerkungen’; 1938-39
published in parts in ‘Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics’, Part II

1938

Ms-158

154 remarks, 1938

Ts-221a

283 remarks, approximately second half of Investigations prewar version; 1938
published in parts in ‘Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics’, Part I App. 3