# 4.03 explained — Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

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

## What happens

Wittgenstein argues that a proposition communicates a new sense using familiar words by being a logical picture of the state of affairs it asserts. The essential connection between proposition and reality is that the proposition is a picture of that state of affairs.

## Themes in this chapter

### Picture Theory of Language

The proposition is a logical picture of the state of affairs, communicating sense through this pictorial relation.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Wittgenstein

Author of the proposition, presenting the picture theory of language.

## Key lines

> A proposition must communicate a new sense with old words.

A proposition conveys a novel meaning using familiar terms.

_Wittgenstein emphasizes the creative capacity of language to express new thoughts through existing vocabulary._

> The proposition only asserts something, in so far as it is a picture.

A proposition makes a claim only to the extent that it functions as a picture of reality.

_This encapsulates the core of the picture theory: the proposition's assertive power derives from its pictorial nature._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se/chapters/4-03
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se/chapters