Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
3.13 explained
Wittgenstein distinguishes between the proposition and what it projects, asserting that the proposition contains the form or possibility of its sense, but not the sense itself.
What happens
Wittgenstein distinguishes between the proposition and what it projects, asserting that the proposition contains the form or possibility of its sense, but not the sense itself. The content of a significant proposition is the possibility of expressing its sense, not the sense as an already-contained object.
Themes in this chapter
Picture Theory of Language
This section elaborates on how a proposition functions as a projection, containing the form of its sense rather than the sense itself.
Limits of Language and Thought
The distinction between what is contained in the proposition and what is projected highlights the limits of what can be expressed.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Author of the Tractatus, presenting the distinction between the proposition and its projected sense.
Key passages
“To the proposition belongs everything which belongs to the projection; but not what is projected.”
The proposition includes all aspects of the act of projecting, but not the actual thing that is projected.
Clarifies the separation between the proposition as a representation and the reality it represents.
“In the proposition, therefore, its sense is not yet contained, but the possibility of expressing it.”
The proposition does not contain its meaning, only the potential to express that meaning.
Emphasizes that sense is not an ingredient of the proposition but something that emerges through projection.