Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
4.0141 explained
Wittgenstein illustrates the internal similarity between a musical score, a symphony performance, and a gramophone record by noting that a general rule of projection allows translation between these different forms of representation.
What happens
Wittgenstein illustrates the internal similarity between a musical score, a symphony performance, and a gramophone record by noting that a general rule of projection allows translation between these different forms of representation. This rule functions as a law of projection, revealing the shared logical structure underlying seemingly disparate phenomena.
Themes in this chapter
Picture Theory of Language
The rule of projection between score, performance, and record exemplifies how different representations can share a logical form, a core idea of the picture theory.
Logic and Tautology
The internal similarity and rule of projection highlight the logical structure common to different modes of representation, independent of their specific content.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Presents the analogy of the musical score, symphony, and gramophone record to demonstrate the internal similarity and rule of projection between different modes of representation.
Key passages
“In the fact that there is a general rule by which the musician is able to read the symphony out of the score, and that there is a rule by which one could reconstruct the symphony from the line on a gramophone record and from this again—by means of the first rule—construct the score, herein lies the internal similarity between these things which at first sight seem to be entirely different.”
The existence of a common rule that allows a musician to play a symphony from a score, and also allows someone to recreate the score from a gramophone recording using the same rule, reveals a deep structural similarity between these apparently unrelated things.
Wittgenstein emphasizes that the rule of projection unifies different forms of representation, showing their underlying logical connection.
“And the rule is the law of projection which projects the symphony into the language of the musical score. It is the rule of translation of this language into the language of the gramophone record.”
This rule is a law of projection that translates the symphony into the symbolic language of the score, and also translates the score into the language of the gramophone record.
The rule functions as a translation mechanism between different symbolic systems, highlighting the shared logical form.