# 2.173 explained — Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

> Chapter companion for Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Wittgenstein

Author of the proposition, articulating the relationship between a picture and its object.

## Key lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se/chapters/2-173
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se/chapters