← All chapters
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
3.316 explained
Wittgenstein explains that the range of possible values for a propositional variable is fixed, and that this determination constitutes the variable itself.
What happens
Wittgenstein explains that the range of possible values for a propositional variable is fixed, and that this determination constitutes the variable itself.
Themes in this chapter
Logical Atomism
The determination of propositional variable values reflects the atomic structure of language and reality.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Author of the proposition
Key passages
“What values the propositional variable can assume is determined. The determination of the values is the variable.”
The range of possible substitutions for a propositional variable is fixed; the variable itself is defined by this fixed range.
Clarifies that a variable is not an arbitrary placeholder but is defined by its permissible values.