# 3.21 explained — Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

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

## What happens

The configuration of simple signs in a proposition corresponds to the configuration of objects in the state of affairs.

## Themes in this chapter

### Picture Theory of Language

The correspondence between sign configuration and object configuration illustrates the picture theory.

### Logical Atomism

Simple signs correspond to simple objects, reflecting the atomistic structure of reality.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Wittgenstein

Author of the proposition

## Key lines

> To the configuration of the simple signs in the propositional sign corresponds the configuration of the objects in the state of affairs.

The arrangement of basic symbols in a proposition mirrors the arrangement of basic objects in the situation it describes.

_This establishes the structural isomorphism between language and reality._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se/chapters/3-21
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se/chapters