Perhaps the most important work of philosophy written in the twentieth century, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was the only philosophical work that Ludwig Wittgenstein published during his lifetime. Written in short, carefully numbered paragraphs of extreme brilliance, it captured the... read more
The opening pages of the Tractatus (sections 1–2.063) deal with ontology—what the world is fundamentally made up of. The basic building blocks of reality are simple objects combined to form states of affairs. Any possible state of affairs can either be the case or not be the case, independent... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
“"My propositions serve as elucidations in the following way: anyone who understands me eventually recognizes them as nonsensical, when he has used them—as steps—to climb up beyond them. (He must, so to speak, throw away the ladder after he has climbed up it.)"”Wittgenstein
“"Logic must look after itself."”Wittgenstein
“"Philosophy aims at the logical clarification of thoughts. Philosophy is not a body of doctrine but an activity."”Wittgenstein
“"My fundamental idea is that the 'logical constants' are not representatives; that there can be no representatives of the logic of facts."”Wittgenstein
“"We picture facts to ourselves."”Wittgenstein
what can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence.Highlighted by 79 Kindle customers
Philosophy aims at the logical clarification of thoughts. Philosophy is not a body of doctrine but an activity. A philosophical work consists essentially of elucidations. Philosophy does not result in 'philosophical propositions', but rather in the clarification of propositions. Without philosophy thoughts are, as it were, cloudy and indistinct: its task is to make them clear and to give them sharp boundaries.Highlighted by 22 Kindle customers
In order that a certain sentence should assert a certain fact there must, however the language may be constructed, be something in common between the structure of the sentence and the structure of the fact. This is perhaps the most fundamental thesis of Mr Wittgenstein's theory. That which has to be in common between the sentence and the fact cannot, so he contends, be itself in turn said in language. It can, in his phraseology, only be shown, not said, for whatever we may say will still need to have the same structure.Highlighted by 22 Kindle customers
It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists.Highlighted by 20 Kindle customers
what relation must one fact (such as a sentence) have to another in order to be capable of being a symbol for that other? This last is a logical question, and is the one with which Mr Wittgenstein is concerned. He is concerned with the conditions for accurate Symbolism, i.e. for Symbolism in which a sentence 'means' something quite definite.Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be put into words can be put clearly.Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
It is clear that ethics cannot be put into words. Ethics is transcendental. (Ethics and aesthetics are one and the same.)Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers
What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence.Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers
Language disguises thought. So much so, that from the outward form of the clothing it is impossible to infer the form of the thought beneath it, because the outward form of the clothing is not designed to reveal the form of the body, but for entirely different purposes. The tacit conventions on which the understanding of everyday language depends are enormously complicated.Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
What we cannot think we cannot think, therefore we also cannot say what we cannot think.Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
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