This blog post examines how Wittgenstein’s Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung redefined the relationship between language and the world. We explore his ‘picture theory of language’ and its philosophical significance.
Ludwig Wittgenstein’s ‘Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung’, written in 1918, profoundly influenced 20th-century modern philosophy, including the Vienna Circle’s logical positivism. He believed many philosophical controversies arose from ambiguous language use, thus making the analysis, critique, and clarification of language the task of philosophy. This book redefined major philosophical problems, contributed to a new understanding of the essence of philosophy, and brought about a significant shift in the methodology of philosophical inquiry.
In it, he advocates the ‘picture theory of language,’ positing that language is a picture of the world. This theory did not remain merely a philosophical assertion; it profoundly influenced subsequent logic, linguistics, and even artificial intelligence research. His inspiration for developing this theory came from an article describing how a court case involving a traffic accident was explained using models made of toy cars and dolls. But why could the models be used to explain the incident? It was because the models corresponded to the actual cars and people. He saw language as functioning similarly. Language has meaning because it corresponds to the world. In other words, language points to things that exist in the world. Language is composed of propositions, and the world is composed of states of affairs. Propositions and states of affairs correspond to each other. Thus, language goes beyond being merely a tool for communication; it forms the core of how we understand and interpret the world. The logical structure of language and the world is identical, and language acquires meaning by describing the world like a picture.
In the picture theory of language, the state of affairs corresponding to a proposition signifies not a fact, but a logical possibility that could become a fact. Therefore, the propositions that constitute language are logical pictures, not factual ones. If an event actually occurs and becomes a fact, the proposition describing it becomes true; if the event does not actually occur, the proposition becomes false. This logic emphasizes that the truth value of a proposition is determined by the state of the world, thereby seeking to clearly define the relationship between language and reality. For a proposition to be meaningful, it must refer to an existing object or state of affairs, and its truth or falsity can be determined. If a proposition refers to something that does not exist or to something that is not a state of affairs, it becomes meaningless, and its truth or falsity cannot be determined. Therefore, only propositions referring to the empirical world are meaningful.
From this perspective, Ludwig Wittgenstein viewed discussions about God, the soul, the metaphysical subject, ethical values, and other topics addressed by previous philosophers as mere meaningless talk. This is because the objects these terms refer to do not exist in the world; they are inaccessible to experience. This view caused a major shock in the philosophical community of the time and presented many philosophers with a new standard for philosophical discourse. Propositions or questions concerning such metaphysical problems are meaningless utterances. These problems are mysterious things that continually reveal themselves through our lives, yet they cannot be answered or explained in words. Thus, Ludwig Wittgenstein stated, “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” This famous phrase acknowledges the limits of philosophical thought and prompts a reconsideration of the role language plays within the realm of human experience.
