Frank P. Ramsey

Frank Plumpton Ramsey was a British philosopher, mathematician, and economist whose work reshaped all three disciplines, despite his life ending at 26. He was a close associate of Ludwig Wittgenstein, translating Wittgenstein’s *Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus* into English while still an undergraduate, and later helped convince Wittgenstein to resume his philosophical work and return to Cambridge. Ramsey was also, like Wittgenstein, a member of the Cambridge Apostles from 1921.

Born in Cambridge on 22 February 1903, Ramsey was the eldest of four children. His father, Arthur Stanley Ramsey, was a mathematician and President of Magdalene College; his mother was Mary Agnes Stanley. His brother Michael later became Archbishop of Canterbury, the only sibling to remain Christian. Ramsey attended Winchester College in 1915 before returning to Cambridge to study mathematics at Trinity College, where he became a student of John Maynard Keynes and an active Apostle. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1923 with first-class distinction, finishing as Senior Wrangler. Described as easy-going, simple, and modest, Ramsey had wide-ranging interests: he read deeply in English literature, enjoyed classics, kept up with politics, and held left-leaning views sympathetic to the underdog.

In 1923, Ramsey became close to Geoffrey and Margaret Pyke, who were founding the Malting House School. They took him into their family, invited him on holiday, and asked him to be godfather to their son. Ramsey developed feelings for Margaret, which he expressed bluntly. She asked for time to consider, and the resulting tension contributed to depressive moods that led Ramsey to Vienna for psychoanalysis in early 1924. His analyst was Theodor Reik, a Freud disciple. While in Vienna, Ramsey visited Wittgenstein in Puchberg, befriended the Wittgenstein family, and toured A.S. Neill’s experimental school. That summer, he continued analysis with Reik in Dobbiaco. Returning to England in October 1924, he became a fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, with Keynes’s support. He also joined a Cambridge psychoanalysis group whose members included Arthur Tansley, Lionel Penrose, and James Strachey.

Ramsey married Lettice Baker in August 1925 in a Register Office, as he was a militant atheist. They had two daughters. After his death, Lettice opened a photography studio with Helen Muspratt. Despite his atheism, Ramsey was tolerant of his brother’s decision to become a priest. In 1926, he became a university lecturer in mathematics and later Director of Studies in Mathematics at King’s College. The Vienna Circle’s 1929 manifesto listed three of his publications in a bibliography of related authors.

Ramsey’s connection with Wittgenstein deepened early. After expressing interest in learning German, he mastered the language quickly—according to one account, in about a week—and at age 19 produced the first draft of the *Tractatus* translation. After graduating as Senior Wrangler in 1923, he reviewed the work for *Mind* and traveled to Austria to discuss it with Wittgenstein, then teaching in Puchberg. Over two weeks, they clarified difficulties in the text, and Wittgenstein made corrections and annotations that later appeared in the 1933 second edition. Ramsey and Keynes worked together to bring Wittgenstein back to Cambridge; once there, Ramsey served as his nominal supervisor.