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Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
4.25 explained
Wittgenstein states that the truth or falsity of an elementary proposition directly corresponds to the existence or non-existence of the atomic fact it depicts.
What happens
Wittgenstein states that the truth or falsity of an elementary proposition directly corresponds to the existence or non-existence of the atomic fact it depicts.
Themes in this chapter
Logical Atomism
The proposition asserts a direct correspondence between elementary propositions and atomic facts, a core tenet of logical atomism.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Author of the proposition
Key passages
“If the elementary proposition is true, the atomic fact exists; if it is false the atomic fact does not exist.”
An elementary proposition's truth means the corresponding atomic fact holds; its falsity means that atomic fact does not hold.
Clarifies the truth-conditional link between language and reality.