How to Pronounce Otto Weininger

Meaning and Context

Otto Weininger was an Austrian philosopher and intellectual prodigy whose brief, turbulent life from 1880 to 1903 culminated in the publication of his incendiary treatise, Geschlecht und Charakter (Sex and Character), in 1903. This dense and controversial work, which he presented to earn his doctorate from the University of Vienna, attempted a radical synthesis of philosophy, biology, and psychology to advance a misogynistic and antisemitic theory of gender and sexuality. Weininger argued for a metaphysical binary between a masculine principle, associated with creativity, logic, and morality, and a feminine principle, linked to passivity, sexuality, and amorality, controversially applying this framework to both women and Jews. His dramatic suicide at age 23 in the house where Beethoven died transformed him into a tragic, mythologized figure in fin-de-siècle Vienna, ensuring his work—though widely criticized as pseudoscientific and prejudiced—exerted a profound and complex influence on modernist thought, gender theory, and writers such as August Strindberg, James Joyce, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. The legacy of Otto Weininger's Sex and Character remains a pivotal, if deeply problematic, touchstone in the history of Austrian philosophy and the cultural history of Vienna 1900.

Common Mistakes and Alternative Spellings

The standard and correct spelling of the philosopher's name is Otto Weininger. The most common error involves the vowel sequence in his surname, with frequent misspellings such as "Wieninger" or "Weiniger," often arising from a misrecollection of the common Germanic root "Wein" (wine). Another typical typo is "Otto Weininger," which incorrectly doubles the 'n'. His seminal work, Geschlecht und Charakter, is sometimes incorrectly cited in English as "Sex and Character" (italicizing only the first word) or, in translation, mistakenly called "Sex and Personality." When referencing the original German, care should be taken to include the umlaut in "Geschlecht." Furthermore, his first name is occasionally misspelled as "Oto" or "Otto," the latter being an error of incorrect character duplication.

Example Sentences

Scholars of fin-de-siècle Vienna often grapple with the disturbing yet influential ideas presented in Otto Weininger's Sex and Character.

Despite its virulent misogyny, the book's metaphysical approach to gender forced many contemporary intellectuals to confront the foundational categories of identity.

The dramatic circumstances of Weininger's suicide shortly after publication irrevocably linked his biography to the reception of his philosophy.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, though critical of the work's conclusions, acknowledged a certain intellectual bravery in Weininger's relentless pursuit of his premises.

Modern gender studies frequently cite Weininger not as a source of truth, but as a historically significant exemplar of how philosophical systems can be constructed upon profound prejudice.

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