Philosophical Investigations
Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgensteinby Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ranked 10 of 30 philosophy books by recommenders
Recommended as a clear lens on how language works and a way to keep thinking clear about LLMs; people urge reading the book itself rather than summaries.
Recommended as a clear lens on how language works and a way to keep thinking clear about LLMs; people urge reading the book itself rather than summaries.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Clarifies how language is used
“With the rest of his work (Philosophical Investigations in particular) it is a hugely useful lens through which to view and significantly better understand the use and function of language in all its forms.”
Comment from 22 May 2026 in “No Slop Grenade” “Id recommend that Hickey put down the dictionary and pick up Wittgenstein.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “'AI' Is Not a Tool by Rich Hickey” Clears up confusion, keeps thinking clear
“Later Wittgenstein is such a gift for keeping your head clear in the era of LLMs.”
Comment from 3 Sep 2026 in “The Foldable Tractatus” “this confusion will go away”
Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Linear algebra explains why some words are effectively untranslatable” Foundational work worth reading directly
“only wrote 2 books and essentially invented one of the 3 branches of philosophy”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “How would you know whether an ancient culture had zero?” “Not a summary. Read the actual book, stew on it a bit, have some thoughts.”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “Is AI Reasoning Right for the Wrong Reasons?”
Other philosophy books people recommend
The four most recommended other philosophy books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tao Te Chingby 老子 and Yang Peng and Jordi Fibla and James Legge | 32 | 3 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceby Robert M. Pirsig | 24 | 3 | 89% | 9 | 44 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Meditationsby Marcus Aurelius | 17 | 4 | 81% | 8 | — | Approved |
| I Am a Strange Loopby Douglas R. Hofstadter | 16 | 1 | 94% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Philosophical Investigationsby Ludwig WittgensteinThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
All 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Id recommend that Hickey put down the dictionary and pick up Wittgenstein.”
“Later Wittgenstein is such a gift for keeping your head clear in the era of LLMs.”
“See Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations for a deeper treatment of that topic.”
“only wrote 2 books and essentially invented one of the 3 branches of philosophy”
“Not a summary. Read the actual book, stew on it a bit, have some thoughts.”
“With the rest of his work (Philosophical Investigations in particular) it is a hugely useful lens through which to view and significantly better understand the use and function of language in all its forms.”
“this confusion will go away”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.