The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus first appeared in 1921 and was the only philosophical work that Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) published during his lifetime. Written in short, carefully numbered paragraphs of extreme compression and brilliance, it immediately convinced many of its readers and captured the imagination of all.

C.K. Ogden`s translation of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus has a unique provenance. As revealed in Letters of C.K. Ogden (1973) and in correspondence in The Times Literary Supplement, Wittgenstein, Ramsey and Moore all worked with Ogden on the translation, which had Wittgenstein`s complete approval. The very name Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was of Ogden`s devising; and there is very strong feeling among philosophers that, among the differing translations of this work, Ogden`s is the definitive text - and Wittgenstein`s version of the English equivalent of his Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung.