The Tractatus (1921) is one of the most remarkable works in philosophy—a mere 75 pages that claimed to solve all philosophical problems. Written in numbered propositions of austere beauty, it examines the relationship between language, logic, and reality.
The Picture Theory of Language
Wittgenstein proposes that language represents the world like a picture. Propositions are logical pictures of facts. The structure of language mirrors the structure of reality.
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”
This explains how meaningful language is possible: words connect to objects, propositions connect to facts, and logical form is shared between language and reality.
What Can Be Said
The Tractatus distinguishes sharply between what can be said and what can only be shown. Natural science describes facts about the world. Logic shows the formal structure of language and reality but cannot be stated in propositions.
The Mystical
Ethics, aesthetics, and the meaning of life cannot be put into words. They are “mystical”—not irrational, but transcending what language can express.
“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”
This famous closing proposition is not dismissive. Wittgenstein believed what cannot be said may be the most important part of life.
Influence and Self-Criticism
The Tractatus inspired logical positivism and analytic philosophy. Yet Wittgenstein later rejected its core ideas, developing a completely different philosophy in his Philosophical Investigations.
This self-critique makes the Tractatus even more fascinating: a work of genius that its own author came to see as fundamentally mistaken.