# 4.012 explained — Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

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

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Wittgenstein

Author of the proposition

## Key lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se/chapters/4-012
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se/chapters