Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
2.0131 explained
Objects are necessarily embedded in logical spaces that define their possible properties: spatial objects require infinite space, visual specks require color, tones require pitch, and tactile objects require hardness.
What happens
Objects are necessarily embedded in logical spaces that define their possible properties: spatial objects require infinite space, visual specks require color, tones require pitch, and tactile objects require hardness.
Themes in this chapter
Logical Atomism
Objects are simple, and their combinatorial possibilities are predetermined by logical form, as illustrated by spatial, color, and tonal spaces.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Author of the Tractatus, presenting the logical necessity of objects occupying specific spaces of possible properties.
Key passages
“A spatial object must lie in infinite space.”
Any object that occupies space necessarily exists within an unbounded spatial framework.
Emphasizes the logical necessity of spatial context for spatial objects.
“A speck in a visual field need not be red, but it must have a colour; it has, so to speak, a colour space round it.”
A visual point may be any color, but it cannot lack color entirely; it is always situated within a range of possible colors.
Illustrates that objects are defined by the logical space of their possible properties.
“A tone must have a pitch, the object of the sense of touch a hardness, etc.”
Every auditory object necessarily possesses a pitch, and every tactile object necessarily possesses a degree of hardness.
Extends the principle to other sensory domains, showing the universality of logical space.