On Certainty: The New Translation

by Ludwig Wittgenstein, P.M.S. Hacker (Editor)

The German text, with a facing English translation by P. M. S. Hacker

Ludwig Wittgenstein's On Certainty collects the final notes of one of the twentieth century’s most influential thinkers, written during the last eighteen months of his life. These posthumously published fragments reflect on questions of knowledge, doubt, and belief. They offer a distinctive perspective on Wittgenstein's late philosophy, and contain many remarks which have greatly influenced epistemological debate in the ensuing decades.

This new translation by P. M. S. Hacker offers a clear and improved rendering of the original German, restoring features of the manuscripts that are essential for understanding the text. Presented in a facing-page German–English format, the edition is clear and readable for both students and scholars, includes a detailed introductory essay on the genesis of the text, and benefits from extensive textual notes that support deeper engagement with Wittgenstein’s arguments. The text also includes several appendices with new translations of select excerpts from other late Wittgenstein manuscripts with reflections on knowledge, belief, doubt, and certainty.

This definitive translation and edition of On Certainty enables readers to engage thoughtfully with Wittgenstein's final thoughts on the limits of doubt and the grounding of belief. Enhanced by Hacker's expertise, it is an invaluable resource for those studying epistemology, philosophy of language, or Wittgenstein's later work

350 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 21, 2025

About the author

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (Ph.D., Trinity College, Cambridge University, 1929) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language.

Described by Bertrand Russell as "the most perfect example I have ever known of genius as traditionally conceived, passionate, profound, intense, and dominating", he helped inspire two of the twentieth century's principal philosophical movements: the Vienna Circle and Oxford ordinary language philosophy. According to an end of the century poll, professional philosophers in Canada and the U.S. rank both his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations among the top five most important books in twentieth-century philosophy, the latter standing out as "...the one crossover masterpiece in twentieth-century philosophy, appealing across diverse specializations and philosophical orientations". Wittgenstein's influence has been felt in nearly every field of the humanities and social sciences, yet there are widely diverging interpretations of his thought.