book review for Tractacus Logico-Philosophicus

Wittgenstein and his truth for languages and logical kernelism

I recently got the book from one of my dear friend for my birthday. Although I had heard about the author, about how he donated so much of his personal wealth for the arts and artists, I had very less idea about the author’s work and what they stood for.

Nevertheless I started reading it and it really is a very difficult book to read and understand. I am writing this to come back later in time to review and collect my thoughts about it and how this book talks about such small things in a meaningful way that seem so easy but have actually a deep impact and weight behing it.

main ideas:

without wasting further time, lets see the main ideas of what is dicussed in the book:

• Picture theory of language: Wittgenstein argues that language functions by creating “pictures” of reality. Meaningful propositions, he claims, are logical pictures of possible states of affairs in the world.

• Logical atomism: The Tractatus presents a view of the world as composed of simple objects combined into states of affairs. Language mirrors this structure through atomic propositions combined by logical operations.

• Limits of language: Perhaps most famously, Wittgenstein concludes that language can only meaningfully describe facts about the world. Attempts to speak about ethics, aesthetics, or the meaning of life inevitably result in nonsense.

• Showing vs. Saying: While we cannot speak meaningfully about certain topics, Wittgenstein suggests they can be “shown” through the structure of language and the world.

• The Ladder Metaphor: Wittgenstein likens his own work to a ladder that must be thrown away after one has climbed it, acknowledging the paradoxical nature of his project.