Brian McGuinness

Brian McGuinness
Born
Bernard Francis McGuinness

(1927-10-22)22 October 1927
Wrexham, Wales
Died23 December 2019(2019-12-23) (aged 92)
Florence, Italy

Brian McGuinness (22 October 1927 – 23 December 2019) was a Wittgenstein scholar best known for his translation, with David Pears, of the Tractatus-Logico-Philosophicus,[1] and for his biography of the first half of Wittgenstein's life.

He was christened with the forenames "Bernard Francis" but changed his name to "Brian" in his youth.[2] He commonly published, and was cited, as B. F. McGuinness.

He went up to Balliol College in 1945 where he was tutored by R. M. Hare.[2] McGuinness was a Fellow and Tutor at Queen's College in Oxford University from 1953 to 1988, and took a post at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study. In 1990, he became a professor at the University of Siena, Italy. From 1990 to 1993, he was director of the faculty of philosophy and social sciences of this university.[3] During his time at Queen's, he was an invited speaker at the Oxford Socratic Club, speaking with J. D. Mabbott on "The Problem of Free Will" on 14 November 1955.

  1. ^ "Brian McGuinness, – A MESSAGE FROM THE BWS PRESIDENT |". Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b Obituaries, Telegraph (9 January 2020). "Brian McGuinness, world-renowned expert on Ludwig Wittgenstein – obituary". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Curriculum e pubblicazioni". intra.lett.unisi.it. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2016.