Wittgensteins Secret Diaries: Semiotic Writing in Cryptography

In this review of Wittgensteins Secret Diaries: Semiotic Writing in Cryptography the reviewer finds a rigorous, narrowly focused study best suited to scholars and serious readers of philosophy. Dinda L. Gorlee presents a clear case that Wittgenstein encoded his private diaries and that a semiotic reading using Charles S. Peirce unlocks how his style links language theory to personal identity. The single biggest reason to buy is the book's careful decoding of cryptographic diary passages, which makes previously inaccessible private material intelligible and relevant to work on the philosophy of language.

Key Features

• Decoding of diary cryptography: The book explains the coding system used in Wittgenstein's private diaries so readers can see how autobiographic passages were hidden within philosophical notes.
• Semiotic framework: Gorlee employs Charles S. Peirce's semiotic doctrine to interpret writing style as a set of signs that reveal shifts in mood and identity.
• Connection to medical history: The analysis links Wittgenstein's emotional moods and expression to his documented medical symptoms, offering a biographical dimension to the textual study.
• Textual scholarship: The work surveys published and unpublished manuscripts and notebooks to situate the diaries within Wittgenstein's broader corpus.
• Interpretive clarity: The author presents arguments that make technical semiotic concepts accessible to readers familiar with philosophy of language.

Who It's For

The book is ideal for academic readers, graduate students, and researchers in philosophy of language or semiotics who want a focused, source-based argument connecting Wittgenstein's private notes to his public writings. It also serves historians of analytic philosophy interested in the interplay between life events and textual production.

Readers looking for a general introduction to Wittgenstein or a light biography should look elsewhere, as this volume assumes familiarity with primary texts and with basic semiotic and philosophical terminology rather than offering a broad life narrative.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Detailed explanation of the diary coding system makes previously inaccessible passages readable and useful to scholars.
• Use of Peircean semiotics offers a coherent theoretical lens linking style and meaning across private and public texts.
• Insightful attention to how medical symptoms influenced Wittgenstein's emotional tone and writing.

Cons

• The book is specialized and dense, which may be challenging for casual readers or those without background in semiotics.

Specifications

Title	Wittgensteins Secret Diaries: Semiotic Writing in Cryptography
Author	Dinda L. Gorlee
Subject areas	Philosophy, Semiotics, History of Ideas
Focus	Deciphering coded diary entries and semiotic analysis
Primary theoretical lens	Charles S. Peirce's semiotic doctrine
Corpus	Published manuscripts, notebooks, lectures and unpublished private diaries

Our Verdict

This book is a strong scholarly contribution for anyone researching Wittgenstein, semiotics, or the philosophy of language; its careful decoding and theoretical framing make private diary material usable for interpretive work, offering excellent value to academic readers despite its specialist focus.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the book actually decode Wittgenstein's diaries?
Yes. The author presents a method for understanding the coded script and demonstrates how passages can be interpreted within a semiotic framework.

Is this accessible to general readers?
Not generally; the text assumes familiarity with philosophical terminology and semiotic concepts and is aimed at scholars rather than casual readers.

What theoretical approach does the author use?
Gorlee relies on Charles S. Peirce's semiotic doctrine to connect writing style and signs to Wittgenstein's emotional and medical history.