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Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
4.012 explained
Wittgenstein argues that a proposition of the form 'a R b' is perceived as a picture, where the sign is a likeness of what it signifies.
What happens
Wittgenstein argues that a proposition of the form 'a R b' is perceived as a picture, where the sign is a likeness of what it signifies.
Themes in this chapter
Picture Theory of Language
The proposition a R b is presented as a direct picture of reality, with the sign resembling the signified.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Author of the proposition
Key passages
“It is obvious that we perceive a proposition of the form a R b as a picture. Here the sign is obviously a likeness of the signified.”
We clearly see a proposition like 'a R b' as a depiction; the sign directly resembles what it represents.
Wittgenstein asserts the pictorial nature of relational propositions.