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Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter

2.15121 explained

This brief proposition uses an analogy of measurement to illustrate how logical form relates to reality, suggesting that only the extreme points of a representation make contact with the object being represented.

What happens

This brief proposition uses an analogy of measurement to illustrate how logical form relates to reality, suggesting that only the extreme points of a representation make contact with the object being represented.

Key passages

  • Only the outermost points of the dividing lines touch the object to be measured.

    In a measurement, only the endpoints of the scale actually come into contact with the object, not the entire scale.

    This metaphor likely extends Wittgenstein's picture theory, indicating that only the logical structure's boundaries connect with reality.