Ludwig Wittgenstein
Philosopher born in Vienna (1889 to 1951); author of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, drafted during the First World War, and of Philosophical Investigations, published after his death.
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What they believe
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What can be said at all can be said clearly, and whereof one cannot speak one must be silent
What can be said at all can be said clearly; and whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent.
en.wikisource.orgSaid c. 1921This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 19 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
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What can be said at all can be said clearly, and whereof one cannot speak one must be silent
What can be said at all can be said clearly; and whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
The truth of the thoughts in this book seems unassailable and definitive, so its problems have in essentials been finally solved
On the other hand the truth of the thoughts communicated here seems to me unassailable and definitive. I am, therefore, of the opinion that the problems have in essentials been finally solved.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
The world is everything that is the case
The world is everything that is the case.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
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The world is the totality of facts, not of things
The world is the totality of facts, not of things.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
Most philosophical propositions and questions are not false but senseless, arising from not understanding the logic of our language
Most propositions and questions, that have been written about philosophical matters, are not false, but senseless. We cannot, therefore, answer questions of this kind at all, but only state their senselessness. Most questions and propositions of the philosophers result from the fact that we do not understand the logic of our language.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
Philosophy is not a theory but an activity whose object is the logical clarification of thoughts
The object of philosophy is the logical clarification of thoughts. Philosophy is not a theory but an activity. A philosophical work consists essentially of elucidations.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
What can be shown cannot be said
What can be shown cannot be said.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
Future events cannot be inferred from present ones; superstition is belief in the causal nexus
The events of the future cannot be inferred from those of the present. Superstition is the belief in the causal nexus.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
That the sun will rise tomorrow is a hypothesis; we do not know whether it will rise
That the sun will rise to-morrow, is an hypothesis; and that means that we do not know whether it will rise.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
The modern view of the world rests on the illusion that the laws of nature explain natural phenomena
At the basis of the whole modern view of the world lies the illusion that the so-called laws of nature are the explanations of natural phenomena.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
The sense of the world must lie outside the world; within the world there is no value
The sense of the world must lie outside the world. In the world everything is as it is and happens as it does happen. In it there is no value—and if there were, it would be of no value.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
Ethics cannot be expressed; it is transcendental, and ethics and aesthetics are one
It is clear that ethics cannot be expressed. Ethics is transcendental. (Ethics and aesthetics are one.)
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
The world of the happy is quite another than the world of the unhappy
The world of the happy is quite another than that of the unhappy.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
Death is not an event of life; whoever lives in the present lives eternally, if eternity means timelessness
Death is not an event of life. Death is not lived through. If by eternity is understood not endless temporal duration but timelessness, then he lives eternally who lives in the present.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
How the world is does not matter to what is higher; God does not reveal himself in the world
How the world is, is completely indifferent for what is higher. God does not reveal himself in the world.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
Even if every possible scientific question were answered, the problems of life would remain untouched
We feel that even if all possible scientific questions be answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all. Of course there is then no question left, and just this is the answer.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
These propositions are elucidations that the reader, once through them, must recognize as senseless and throw away like a ladder
My propositions are elucidatory in this way: he who understands me finally recognizes them as senseless, when he has climbed out through them, on them, over them. (He must so to speak throw away the ladder, after he has climbed up on it.)
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (tr. C. K. Ogden, 1922) Said c. 1921
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