'Wittgenstein's Poker' One Of The Most Influential Philosophical Debates Gets An Animated Short

What started out as a kickstarter is quickly turning into reality as the infamous philosophical debate, Wittgenstein's Poker, turns into an animated short.

The crew behind the short includes Director Christian De Vita, who has worked on numerous animated projects before like Fantastic Mr. Fox and Frankenweenie. There is also writer and producer Casey Cohan, as well as artists Mikkle Sommer, Christian Kuntz, and Stephen Warbeck.

Richard E. Grant is going to be the voice of the aggressive Ludwig Wittgenstein. Karl Markovics will be the voice of Karl Popper. Lastly, Brian Cox will be the spectator of the two characters as he voices Bertrand Russel.

The short will tell the story of the encounter between Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper, as well as the heated debate which has gone down in history.

The incident itself took place on October 25, 1946, at the Cambridge Moral Science Club. The two got into a debate, where Wittgenstein argued that there are no such things as philosophical problems, only linguistic puzzles; whereas Popper argued otherwise. They went back and forth, Popper proposing problems and Wittgenstein dismissing them as he played around with a red-hot fire poker.

The discussion finally ended when Wittgenstein asked Popper to give a moral philosopher problem, to which he allegedly replied "Not to threaten visiting lecturers with pokers". Wittgenstein then reportedly slammed the poker and walked out of the room, ending their first encounter and last encounter with each other.

These events, alongside further details about the two philosophers are chronicled in the book 'Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers'. The book also makes note of how there are different accounts of the story as well and that it's hard to verify what actually happened in that room with complete accuracy. One wonders which version of the events the short by De Vita will portray.

The team behind the short "Wittgenstein's Poker" actually made a Kickstarter back on 1 May to fund the short, with a goal of $37,500 to be reached by 31 May.

At the moment, the amount donated is $36,349, which means the Kickstarter is just $1,151 shy of reaching its goal. If you are at all interested in the movie, or any of the rewards in the kickstarter like digital copies of the film material, tours of Wittgenstein's residence or Cambridge University, or even an original piece signed by the director Christian De Vita himself, then do check out the kickstarter. It will last till 31 May.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wittgensteinspoker/wittgensteins-poker-animated-short-film/description