Ludwig Wittgenstein's works enter public domain, free online project launched

Seventy years after Ludwig Wittgenstein's death, his works have entered the public domain in most of the European Union, Africa, Asia, Oceania, parts of Latin America, and Canada. To mark Public Domain Day on January 1, Wikimedia Italy launched the Ludwig Wittgenstein Project, a non-profit initiative started in late 2020 by Michele Lavazza, a Wikimedia volunteer and digital humanities expert. The project makes the philosopher's entire legacy freely available online, including the Tractatus logico-philosophicus, his only major work published during his lifetime, along with posthumous writings such as Philosophical Investigations, Remarks on Colour, and the Blue Book. The texts are offered in Italian, German, English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and other languages, translated by a team of ten translators from six countries. The project aims to broaden access to Wittgenstein's thought, which opposed psychoanalytic theories and focused on logic and mathematics. Iolanda Pensa, President of Wikimedia Italy, stated that the association supports cultural initiatives aligned with the principle of multiplying access to knowledge. The platform remains open to new volunteers.