Wittgenstein’s Philosophy: Language, Logic, and Reality
Wittgenstein
CONTEXT
Historical
Wittgenstein witnessed social and political tensions of the last days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, culminating after the First World War, with Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia becoming independent republics. The Russian Revolution marked the beginning of a new political reality, completed with the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy, the prelude to World War II.
Sociocultural
These events coincided with urban growth, where the middle classes imposed their tastes, gaining social and political influence. Civilization and Its Discontents, viewing culture as repression of instinct, was symptomatic of the times. Vienna’s cultural scene thrived with Schoenberg and Mahler’s twelve-tone music, Musil’s literature, Graus’ journalism, Freud’s psychoanalysis, Klimt and Kokoschka’s paintings, Adolf Loos’ architecture, and Hertz and Mach’s scientific concepts. Early 20th-century science, spurred by the catastrophic consequences of improper military applications, shifted from the Newtonian worldview.
Philosophical
Diversity defined philosophy: Dilthey’s historicism led to historical relativism; Nietzsche’s vitalism influenced Ortega y Gasset; Pragmatism in the U.S. linked truth to utility; Husserl’s phenomenology challenged positivism, influencing Heidegger, Jaspers, and Sartre; the Frankfurt School (Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse) reinterpreted Marxism; and Frege and Russell’s logic laid the groundwork for Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle.
THOUGHT
Wittgenstein’s main works are the Tractatus and Philosophical Investigations, often categorized as “early” and “late” Wittgenstein, though both emphasize language and philosophy as an activity.
The Tractatus: The Meaning of Logic
For Wittgenstein, logic is inescapable; one cannot think illogically. Logic connects to the world through names and propositions. Names are simple signs representing objects, forming part of propositions. Propositions, sets of symbols with sense, can be true or false, atomic or molecular. Molecular propositions comprise atomic ones, connected logically to the world, their meaning self-evident. They represent reality, true if corresponding to facts, false otherwise. Representation can be material (text), visual (painting), etc., sharing a logical form with reality. Logic, reality, and language share this structure, enabling us to speak about the world, though we can only display, not state, its logical form. Tautologies and contradictions, lacking real-world content, are a priori truths (logic, mathematics) or impossibilities.
Language and Reality
Language and reality share a logical structure. Reality encompasses all facts, existing and possible. World events involve states of affairs or object combinations.
Philosophy as an Activity
Wittgenstein’s philosophy is not descriptive theory but an activity clarifying language issues. It delimits natural science’s scope, defining what can be thought. The unthinkable is defined by the thinkable. Philosophy demonstrates the meaninglessness of non-scientific propositions lacking referents, especially in metaphysics and traditional philosophical problems arising from linguistic misunderstanding.
The World of the Mystical
Beyond tautologies, contradictions, and scientific propositions, natural language contains ethical, aesthetic, and religious propositions, termed the mystical. The mystical lies outside language’s limits, encompassing the meaning of the world, life, and God. Though unsayable, they are significant human concerns. Ethical, aesthetic, and religious valuations are shown, not said. They express values, not facts, constituting the mystical, concerning humanity, and transcending language. Saying pertains to the world, done through natural science propositions. Displaying, through meaningless propositions, reveals the shared structure between the world and language: logic.
Science tells us about the world, but its existence is what matters, and that can only be displayed. Ethics don’t change facts but alter the world’s limits: a world seen through good will differs from one seen immorally. Religion is similar. Art transforms objects, expressing values beyond mere facts.
General propositions: all designate contingent facts, but the way the world is isn’t revealed in facts. The meaning of life lies outside the world. World facts are absolute, referring to events, laws, and generalizations. They don’t explain the world’s meaning. Without value, there is no world (ethics). Science describes the valueless world. Ethics changes the world’s limits, guiding happiness. The mystical holds value, relating to life’s meaning, addressed by ethics and religion.
From the Tractatus to Investigations
The Philosophical Investigations revises the Tractatus. The parallel between reality and language becomes a linguistic phenomenon. Any sentence has meaning, reflecting a perfect order. Propositions are not just true/false statements but any ordinary language expression. The use of language, not word meaning (which depends on context), is crucial. Usage is dynamic and varied but always valid.
Wittgenstein compares language to a toolbox: tools have specific functions but can be used otherwise. Words have diverse uses or communicative functions. Describing the world is one use; language has a plurality of purposes. A word’s meaning is determined by its use in language games.
A word is like a chess piece; understanding it requires understanding the game. A word’s meaning is its place in a language game, a set of rule-governed activities. Meaning is determined by everyday language use. Following a rule is a habit, a way of life.
Instead of seeking an ideal language, we clarify meaning through everyday uses.
Language use concerns word meaning, not object reference. Meaning changes over time, taking new forms. Language games are participatory, creating mutual expectations, exemplified through examples.
Language games reflect lifestyles and involve grammatical rules, arising from everyday practice. They are not always clear or complete; talking and acting are intertwined.
We can differentiate between:
Surface grammar: analyzes syntactic function (e.g., “all roses have thorns” vs. “all strips have length”). The first is experimental, the second conceptual.
Deep grammar: contains the meaning of propositions.
The New Role of Philosophy
In Investigations, philosophy describes philosophical uses, testing if word usage fits the relevant language game. This requires analyzing expressions to correct misuse, making philosophy both:
- Descriptive: describing philosophical uses.
- Therapeutic: remedying perplexity from linguistic misuse, checking if word usage fits its language game, analyzing expressions, correcting misuse, examining philosophical concept expressions, and avoiding linguistic misunderstanding.