Topic > Ludwig Wittgenstein's great work on the Tractatus...

Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher who contributed significantly to the fields of mathematics, logic and language. The work he contributed to throughout his life can be divided into two parts, his earlier work and his later work. Probably his greatest contribution came from his early works, mainly from the “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus”. According to Biletzki, Wittgenstein “addresses the central problems of philosophy concerning the world, thought, and language, and presents a “solution” (as Wittgenstein calls it) of these problems that is based on logic and the nature of representation.” Within the Tractatus Wittgenstein essentially aims to define the world and how it can exist. Wittgenstein discusses in depth and systematically what exists in the world, i.e. in logical space, and also how it is possible for it to exist. Wittgenstein thinks that “the world is represented by thought, which is a proposition with meaning, since all – world, thought and proposition – share the same logical form. Therefore, thought and proposition can be images of facts” (Biletzki). Wittgenstein's first line in the “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” states “1. The world is everything that is so” (29) followed by “1.1 The world is the totality of facts, not of things” (29). Wittgenstein is trying to express that the world is not defined by all the things within it. Rather than all things in this world are created from facts, so the world is a collection of facts rather than things. He also states “Facts in logical space are the world” (29). Reinforce that the world is made of facts. It is essential to a thing that can be a constitutive part of an atomic fact” (29). According to Wittgenstein the atomic facts are... in the center of the paper... and again. Wittgenstein states in the Tractatus: “The logical image of facts is thought” (35). If we are able to think atomic facts, that means we are able to imagine them within ourselves. The combination of all thoughts within you makes the world possible. Every thought has states of affairs, but when the thought is put into practice it becomes part of reality. Wittgenstein says: “We cannot think of anything illogical, otherwise we would have to think illogically” (35). Wittgenstein explains it simply. If you have a geometric shape and you give a person the coordinates within that shape, they will find it. If I had the same shape and gave a person coordinates that aren't in that space, how would they ever find it? They have no reference to enter. It's impossible (36). We must stay within the limits of logic, it is impossible to cross the line.