Otto Weininger: what Wikipedia removed
Otto Weininger was an Austrian philosopher whose 1903 book Sex and Character is viewed by academics as antisemitic. Through 2015 the opening said “Today, Weininger is viewed as misogynistic and antisemitic by many in academic circles, but was held to be a great genius by” Wittgenstein and Strindberg. Today’s opening describes only his influence on other writers, with no mention of this academic characterization, though the word survives six times in the body. A reader today does not learn from the opening that academic circles view Weininger’s work as antisemitic.
The word “antisemitism” appeared 2 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2015. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 6. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.
The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot
Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”| word | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 | 6 October 2023 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| antisemitism | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.
What was taken out
Section titled “What was taken out”- The statement that academic circles view Weininger’s work as misogynistic and antisemitic, dropped from the opening.
How it opened then, and now
Section titled “How it opened then, and now”2005 (revision 17972896):
Otto Weininger ( April 3 , 1880 - October 4 , 1903 ) was an Austrian philosopher . In 1903, he published the book Geschlecht und Charakter ( Sex and Character ); it gained popularity after Weininger’s theatrical suicide at the age of 23. Today, the book is commonly dismissed as sexist and anti-Semitic , however it continues to be held up as a great work of lasting genius and spiritual wisdom by some. Born in Vienna , he was a gifted student and enrolled at the philosophical faculty of the University of Vienna in 1898 , receiving his doctorate in 1902 . In his book Sex and Character , Weininger argues that all people are composed of a mixture of the male and the female substance, and attempts…
2025 (revision 1293544937):
Austrian philosopher (1880–1903) Otto Weininger ( German: [ˈvaɪnɪŋɐ] ; 3 April 1880 – 4 October 1903) was an Austrian philosopher who in 1903 published the book Geschlecht und Charakter ( Sex and Character ), which gained popularity after his suicide at the age of 23. Weininger had a strong influence on Ludwig Wittgenstein , August Strindberg , and, via his lesser-known work Über die letzten Dinge , on James Joyce . ^ Mack 2003 , p. 104. ^ Weininger 1903 , ch. II. ^ Weininger 1903 , ch. VI. ^ Weininger 1903 , ch. VII. ^ Colangelo 2020 , p. 5. ^ Van Hulle 2018 .
Related
Section titled “Related”- The drift report: what changed across all 61,944 watched articles
- The case file for this article, with every snapshot and every marked removal
- Who made the cuts: removals grouped by the account that made them
- The live article on Wikipedia
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