Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
2.173 explained
A picture represents its object from an external standpoint, which is its form of representation, and this standpoint determines whether the representation is true or false.
What happens
A picture represents its object from an external standpoint, which is its form of representation, and this standpoint determines whether the representation is true or false.
Themes in this chapter
Picture Theory of Language
This proposition directly articulates the picture theory, explaining that a picture represents its object from an external standpoint, which is its form of representation.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Author of the proposition, articulating the relationship between a picture and its object.
Key passages
“The picture represents its object from without (its standpoint is its form of representation), therefore the picture represents its object rightly or falsely.”
A picture depicts its subject from an external perspective, which is its mode of depiction; consequently, the picture can be either correct or incorrect in its representation.
Clarifies the role of the standpoint or form of representation in determining truth or falsity.